Cracking a Stone Heart
by hungergamestribute18
Summary: Prim and Peeta aren't pulled in the Reaping. Will Katniss and Peeta still meet, or even fall in love? Read to find out! DISCLAIMER FOR STORY: I do not own the Hunger Games or the book's characters! But the plot is mine!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So, this is my first fanfic I've ever done. I'm working on a few different stories, and I really hope you will like them. So, I present you chapter one of Cracking a Stone Heart! Constructive critiques only please.. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins does. Though I really wish I do.**

Katniss POV

I walk across the coal-dusted lane towards school, with Prim by my side kicking small stones. I smile slightly for a second, but quickly wipe it off my face being in public. As we edge closer towards the town side of District Twelve, the dirt slowly changes into rough brick stones. I hear feet pitter-pattering across the dirt behind us, with a voice to match.

"Katniss! Prim!" I turn to see Rory running up to us with Gale close behind. Gale is my best friend; he has been since I was about twelve. Rory is Gale's younger brother, along with Vick. And sweet little Posy is the youngest, being the only daughter in the Hawthorne family. Prim and I pause so Rory can catch up, along with Gale.

"Hey." I say, Gale smiling as he gets next to me.

"Morning Catnip. How's your day so far?"

"Same old, same old. I traded a few squirrels for a fresh loaf of bread this morning." I reply, remembering the baker's big smile when I held up three squirrels by the tail.

.0.0.0.

"Ah, fresh meat is just what we needed. I think these calls for special bread this morning." He had said.

"Mr. Mellark, it's-" I try to interrupt, but he holds his hand up.

"Katniss, the least I can do is pay you for giving me some of my favorite meat. Here, have a loaf of the hearty bread." He handed me a Mellark bag with a loaf of raisin and nut bread. The same loaf of bread his son had given to me five years ago. I look up and smile slightly.

"Thanks. Have a nice day Mr. Mellark." I say in honesty. He nods with a grin, and quietly shuts the door.

.0.0.0.

"That's good. Hey, can we skip hunting today? I have to do some jobs tonight.." He trails off, slightly hesitant.

"That's totally fine. Prim wanted to take a stroll around town today anyways."

We reach school, and grimace in unison. Prim turns around to me quickly, and hugs me.

"I will see you at lunch, okay?" She says, looking into my eyes with her innocent blue ones. I nod in response, and tug a braid lightly.

"See you later, little duck." I smile lightly, and she grabs Rory's hand.

"Come on Rory, let's go to English." I hear her say, and then drag him off to the 6th grade building. I head towards my locker, and shove my Trigonometry textbook into my school bag, and grab my notebook. By the time I get to class, I see all the desks paired up and every single seat is filled up, except for one. The seat is right next to Peeta Mellark, great.

I head towards the empty desk, and sit in the chair quietly as the bell rings. As I pull out the textbook and look up onto the chalkboard, I see Partner Project scrawled across it.

Ms. Bell trots into the room, in her lilac colored dress with ugly lace trim rounding the skirt. "Good Morning class. I hope you like where you are sitting, and who you are with. Your seat partner and you will be starting a project that will take up the next month. You are to follow these instructions and create a good presentation on one of the following topics. Begin now."

"I, uh, I'm-" Peeta stutters out slightly.

" I know who you are Peeta." I respond, slightly irritated.

"You uh, you do? How?" He manages to respond.

"I've had history and math with you since 4th grade." Is my lazy response to his question? He nods his head, then looks down on the paper Ms. Bell handed out.

This was going to be a long month.

Review! Continue or not?


	2. Chapter 2

**I see you people reading! I even got two hits from New Zealand, which is exciting for me. Did I mention I love New Zealand a lot?** **REVIEW.!**

KPOV

School felt like it was never going to end, especially Trigonometry. By the time school was finally let out, I was dying to leave the wretched place. I sit at the willow tree in front of the school, waiting for Prim. I hear heavy footsteps, and glance at the side, seeing Peeta casually leaning on the tree next to me.

"Hi Peeta. What do you want." I mutter, looking for Prim.

"I was wondering if you wanted to work on the project for Trig sometime after school. We have a lot to do." He responds, looking at me with question.

Just then, Prim comes running out the doors, squealing my name obnoxiously loud. I turn and smile, catching her in my arms.

"Hey little duck! How was school?"

"It was good. Katniss, who's that?" She asks, peering around my side at Peeta.

"I'm Peeta, nice to meet you."He extends his hands, but she jumps right into his arms.

"I'm Prim. Don't you work at the bakery? With all the pretty cakes?" She rambles quickly, and looks at him expectantly.

"Yeah, I actually make those cakes!" He laughs, setting him down. "Could I walk you guys home?

I was just about to say no when Prim shakes her head vigorously. "Yes! I want you to meet my goat, lady!" She takes his hand, and grabs mine, pulling me towards town. She talks non-stop, and I look up to see Peeta smiling at her, occasionally sneaking a glance at me. I just look back at the gravel as soon as he catches me, and finally we stop in front of our home. Prim pulls him through our rickety gate, and suddenly I feel a little embarrassed of our unstable home. He doesn't seem to mind though, smiling at Prim again. We cross the threshold of home, and Prim drops his hand.

"This is our living room. We treat patients here, and our room is upstairs. The bathroom is over here!" She points towards everything as she talks about them. "Lady is out back though, come on!" She races through the home, and sings through the screen quickly. I flop onto the couch, and huff out air. Mother must be on a house call for a patient. Prim is still out back when Peeta comes in.

"Sorry that I barged in like this. I hope I didn't upset you too much.." He trails off, a look of slight regret shadowing his eyes.

"No, it's fine. We aren't keeping you from work right?" I ask, getting up.

"Nah, it's my day off. Did you want to work on that project a bit?" He responds, lightening up.

"Sure, I guess. Want something to drink then? I have some water." He nods, so I fill up to glasses and grab two rolls I bought earlier this week from Mr. Mellark.

"Here," I say, holding out a glass and roll towards him, " I figured you might want a bite too."

"You sure? I know you work hard for that, I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense, I'm going hunting again tomorrow morning, I will just trade with you tomorrow and get a few more. And don't worry, they're still fresh."

A look of excitement crosses his face. "I have never had a fresh roll before.." He looks guilty and embarrassed all of a sudden, and it surprises me.

"You don't eat fresh bread at the bakery?"

"Not unless it is extremely stale. Otherwise, no I don't eat fresh bread or treats. "

This is news to me, and I open his palm and press the roll in. He looks down again with uncertainty, but I close his hand around the small roll, nodding. He brings it to his mouth, taking a small bite.

"This is really good!" I laugh slightly, than stop. I never laugh. He looks up with surprise, clearly that I laughed.

"Let's just start on the project." I push the table over to a wall, and light a small fire in the fireplace. After it is thriving, I call Prim in.

"Prim! Time to come in; it is getting a little dark. You need to start homework!" I call out, and then flop onto the floor next to Peeta. She slides into the house, and closes the door lightly.

"I'll be upstairs, what's for dinner?" She asks as she steps up.

"I think rabbit stew, I have a few leftover spices for it, and so it should work." She grins, rabbit stew is her favorite.

"Is Peeta staying for dinner?" She questions.

"I don't want to impose." He adds quickly. "I can just go home after we finish a bit of work."

"You can stay, I mean you haven't even gotten to eat fresh food from the sounds of it often." Prim responds with a smirk. "You guys talk quite loud." She then skips up the stairs, and I shake my head.

He laughs, and turns to me. "Is that alright with you?"

"Sure. I have to get rid of the extras we have before it goes bad anyways." I smile slightly, and point at the work. "First, let's finish step one."


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my gosh! Thank you sooooooo much to all of you who have added me to their alerts and reviewed! I am so thankful that you are loving it! So as a token of my thanks, I'm going to add another two chapters tonight! Enjoy, and don't forget to drop a review off too!**

**-hungergamestribute18**

We quickly get our project done, and I head to the small stove that we have, warming up some water.

"Need some help?" I turn to see Peeta casually leaning against my counter, the muscles in his arms flexing slightly. I blush a bit for paying attention, and nod. He walks over next to me, and I hand him a small wild onion.

"Chop this up, and just throw it in the pot after. I need to skin the rabbit still." He gets right to work, and I quickly skin the rabbit, cutting it into small cubes. I throw in some spices, and the rabbit cubes. He throws in the onions, and I grab the small bag of Katniss tubers out of the ice chest and toss them in.

"What were those?" Peeta asks, and I laugh slightly.

"They're Katniss tubers. I harvested them the other day, they're good." His eyes widen slightly.

"Is that where you got your name from?" I wince slightly, knowing I was named after them because my father found them.

"Yeah. My dad loved them, and they loved the name, my mom and dad." My voice is slightly stiff, so he drops it.

I pop a lid on top, and sit at the table. "Now, we wait. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. How long does the stew take to cook?"

"About an hour. My mom probably won't be home until later tonight, so it is just us and Prim. Want to go to the Meadow?" I don't know why I want to go to the Meadow, but I just do.

"Sure. Shall we tell Prim?" He asks, but we don't even have to ask her, because she flies down the stairs with a coat tossed over her shoulder and shoes hastily tied.

"Let's go!" She calls out, skipping out the front door before we even get up. Peeta laughs and I smile slightly. We quickly pull on shoes and jackets, and leave.

Prim talks the whole way, something about a English project that her and Rory are starting tomorrow after school. "Katniss, I won't be going home with you after school, I'm just going to go straight home with Rory. That is okay right?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I need to do some hunting again tomorrow night for our family, since the morning's haul is going towards what we need." She smiles, almost too widely. Peeta looks at her, and winks. I get confused at this, but decide to just ignore it and head to the center of it.

"Wow. This is really beautiful." Peeta remarks, and sits next to me. I nod, and lean back with Prim snuggled into my side tightly. A scratching sound suddenly fills my ears, and I look towards Peeta. He's quickly scrawling across a small notebook with a pencil, something I never noticed he was carrying with him.

"What are you drawing Peeta?" Prim asks, curiously peeking over me to see.

"It's a surprise," he responds with a smirk, "you'll see it later." I must doze off, because I am suddenly shook awake.

"Hey sleepy head. It's been about an hour, we should probably head back." I hear Peeta murmur. I pat the grass next to me, and notice Prim is gone.

"Where's Prim?" I ask, looking around.

"She headed home, said something about Lady needing her dinner. She didn't want to wake you up."

"Oh. Alright, let's go." I stand up, brushing my pants off. We walk in silence back to the house, and suddenly Peeta stops.

"Do you want to work on the project again next Monday after school? I get Mondays off unless we have a important cake order, which is extremely rare." He asks quickly.

"Sure, I guess." Is all I say, kicking the stones on the ground.

"We can do it at my home next week; my mom goes to her friend's house every Monday for 'tea.'" I hear a hint of sarcasm when he says tea, but decide he probably doesn't want to explain. I nod at him, and we walk into my small, coal-dusted home. The rabbit stew fills the air with a delicious smell, and I see Peeta lick his lips slightly. My stomach flutters lightly when he does that, which really confuses me.

"Hi Katniss, and hello." I see my mom standing a few feet away, her eyes trained on Peeta.

"Mom, this is Peeta Mellark, Peeta this is my mom."

Peeta steps forward with a smile, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Everdeen. Your flowers out front are lovely." My mom smiles slightly, and heads to the couch.

"She doesn't always talk much." I whisper to him, and walk to the pot on the stove.

"The stew is ready whenever you guys are Katniss." My mom says quietly.

I grab two bowls and spoons, dishing them up quickly. "Here, it is a bit hot." I slide a bowl to Peeta, and plop into a chair. He takes a bite, and moans slightly.

"This is so good, the best I have ever had hands down." Peeta says, shoveling another into his mouth.

"It isn't that good, you don't have to lie Peeta." He looks up into my eyes.

"It is great, I'm serious. Like I said before, hardly anything we have is fresh or flavorful. I can't remember the last time I ate something so good. You were right too, Katniss tubers are really good!" He smiles, and then starts eating again.

We finish two bowls each, quickly getting up to wash dishes after. "Peeta, you don't need to do dishes."

"Katniss, the least I could do is help out with dishes. I got to head home after too, it is getting close to seven."

We make quick work of the dishes. Peeta grabs his school bag and heads toward the door.

"Thanks for tonight. I'm glad we got to get a bit of that dumb project done." Peeta says, smiling at me.

"No problem. So, I guess I will see you tomorrow at school?" He nods, and then pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket suddenly.

"Here, for you. Thanks for tonight again." He slides the paper into my hand, his fingers brushing mine lightly. They tingle from his touch, again confusing me a lot. Before I can respond, he's out the door. I decide to head to the bedroom and go to sleep early.

Prim lies across mom's bed, paper littering the sheets. She looks up and smiles mischievously. "Well, are you going to look at it?" She pesters, and I nod back. My hands open the neatly folded paper, to reveal a beautiful picture. It's of Prim and I snuggled together in the Meadow, flowers surrounding our content faces. I smile, and look up at Prim.

"It's perfect." She grins, and gets up. After snatching the paper lightly from me, she pins it on the wall by my side of the bed. I burrow into the covers, staring at the photo in awe. It's the last thing I see before drifting into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**As I promised, here is Chapter Four! Keep the reviews and alerts coming guys!**

I awake to Prim lightly shaking my arm, and I look up to the drawing of us two. I smile, just a little, and slide out of bed. Grabbing a pair of old khaki's and my favorite olive green shirt, I change quickly, and fix my casual braid. Prim knocks, telling me we need to leave in two minutes, so I quicken my pace. I brush my teeth, and look into the mirror. For some reason, I look different. My hair didn't change; I still have the same scars. Something is definitely different though, but I give up when Prim opens the door and drags me out. She hands my school bag and an apple, then pulls me out the front door. That's when I realize I forgot to get up early and do hunting with Gale this morning. Shit.

When we arrive at school, the warning bell is just sounding off. We hug quickly and part ways and I rush into Trig, sliding into my desk next to Peeta. When Ms. Bell finishes handing out rubrics for the project, I turn to Peeta.

"Thanks for the picture, it is perfect." I say, feeling blood rush into my cheeks slightly.

"You're welcome, I figured you'd like it. Oh, you busy after school tomorrow?" He asks, a eyebrow slightly raised.

"I don't think so. Why?"

"I was wondering…maybe you'd like to hang out? Like come over while I'm working, my family is going to be gone at a party."

"Why aren't you going?"

"It's an adult party, or something like that. I have to run the shop though." He smiles a bit.

"Yeah, sure. I'll tell Prim tonight." He smiles, and we start working.

At lunch, Prim asks if I thanked Peeta.

"Yeah, I did and he invited me to hang out at the bakery with him." I say, not too sure still about hanging out.

Prim obviously notices, and grabs my hand. "Give him a chance Katniss. Promise me you will try to get to know him more. Please?" I look into her eyes, and nod, mumbling my promise.

When school ends, I head straight to the Meadow, going to the forest. I slip my bow and arrows out, and jog to my meeting spot to wait for Gale. He shows up only two minutes later, looking slightly annoyed.

"What's wrong?" I question, looking at him.

"What's all of the talk about Peeta Mellark and you? Not to mention that you forgot about hunting this morning." He snaps back, and I step back.

"I don't know. We are just working on a school project together, and I'm sorry, I overslept." He relaxes a bit, still clearly annoyed though. "Let's just hunt. I need to be back at a decent time tonight, so I can make up lost time." We end up shooting a deer, a rare treat. After selling the meat to Rooba, the butcher, and the hide at the Hob, we earn pockets clinking with coins.

"I think I'm going to run into town real quick, and sell the two squirrels to the baker and pick up a ribbon for Prim." Gale nods, and we split ways. I can tell he is really pissed off. I jog to the bakery, and come into the front of the store.

"Mellark Bakery, how may I help yo—" Peeta says, then looks up to see me. "Oh, hey Katniss."

"Hi. I was wondering if you wanted to trade two squirrels." I hold them up by the tails, and he laughs.

"Sure." He ducks under the counter to grab a bag, and grabs these odd rolls. When he sets them in front of me, I smell the bag. "They're cheese buns; I just created the recipe today. Figured you may want to taste test?"

I grab one, and take a bite, moaning slightly at the taste. "These are delicious Peeta." I groan, and take one more bite, then fold the bag up. "I guess I will see you tomorrow. I got to pick up a ribbon for Prim, shot a deer today." He smiles, and nods.

"Tomorrow." I turn for the door, and head out to the clothes shop quickly, deciding to pick a yellow ribbon for her. She loves it, and goes to bed with it wrapped around her fingers. I glance at the picture of us again as I fall asleep, smiling as calm dreams of the bread boy take over.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Getting a ton of reviews and hits! I'm so thankful you all love it! Updating another two chapters today! I have a big paper for school this week, so I am not sure how much I can update until Friday. But good news, after Friday I am on spring break! Next week will be full of updates! Don't forget to review!**

**-hungergamestribute18**

I wake up early today, and find picking out an outfit harder than usual. Brown cargo pants with a light blue shirt, or khakis with a muted orange? I decide on the muted orange with khakis, and pull on my soft boots. I spot Prim's orange ribbon draped over the towel rack, and decide to tie it on the end of my braid. I flip it behind my back, and step out of the bathroom, to run into Prim.

"Morning Katniss! Oh, you look pretty!" I blush a bit, and then turn for the kitchen. Mom has set out our small lunch bags, and I toss mine in with my school stuff, grabbing an apple on the way to the door.

"Prim, we need to go!" She races down the stairs in a dulled yellow shirt, hair tied up with her new yellow ribbon. I smile and hand her an apple with her lunch, and run out of the house.

"So what's with the ribbon?" I hear Prim ask, and when I turn to look at her, she wiggles her eyebrows comically.

"I don't know. I just thought I would wear one…" I look away, kicking a stone across the coal dusted lane.

"Katniss, you haven't worn a ribbon in your hair for years. I was just teasing anyways, I like the ribbon. It's nice on you." I smile, and look up at her.

"You're new ribbon looks great too. We need to pick up the pace! The Hawthorne's are probably waiting!" We twine our fingers together and start jogging up to the corner, where we always meet Gale, Rory, and Vick. Gale's eyes bulge a bit, probably at the site of my ribbon. Rory has the exact same expression.

I laugh nervously, and flip my braid back. Prim jumps ahead and grabs Rory's hand, who grabs Vick. They all skip ahead, and Gale just stares still.

"What?" I ask, slightly annoyed.

"Why are you wearing a ribbon Catnip? I've known you for four years, and not once have you ever worn a ribbon. So why now?" I shrug, and start walking. I really don't know why I wore a ribbon, it just seemed right. "Well, are you going to actually answer?"

"I don't know Gale. I just felt like wearing one. Why does it bug you anyways?" I shoot back, getting annoyed quickly at him.

"Never mind." He responds, sounding just as annoyed as I am.

We walk to school in complete silence compared to our younger siblings.

I hug Prim quickly, promising to see her at lunch and jog to Trig, feeling a bit of excitement bubble in my stomach. I see Peeta already seated in our desks, which causes me to smile a bit. I walk over, and flop into my chair, and turn to see him staring still, blushing too when he realizes I caught him in the act.

"What are you staring at?" I question, feeling annoyance again.

"You. You just look, um, really pretty today. I like the ribbon." I blush, and look down at my book. I barely mumble out thanks. "Shall we start working? I want to get the 4th and 5th steps done today, so I don't have to worry about homework tonight."

The period flies by quickly, and soon it is time to go. "I will meet you at the willow, okay?" Peeta nods and we head separate ways to our 2nd period. My next class with him is after lunch. My classes drag by, and finally it is lunch. Madge is already seated at the table and smiles when I walk up.

"Hey. Where were you yesterday?" I ask.

"Oh, I wasn't feeling well. Plus mother was having a particularly bad day, so dad asked me to watch her."

"Is she doing better?" Mrs. Undersee has really bad headaches, to the point some days she won't even eat or drink.

"Yeah, much better, but still in bed. Nice ribbon by the way, it suits you." I smile slightly, giving her a nod in thanks. "Wait, why are you wearing a ribbon?" I quickly glance around to see if Prim is around, and then respond.

"I'm hanging out with Peeta after school, and for some reason I felt the need to wear a ribbon." Madge looks at me as if someone just awarded her a million coins.

"That's so sweet! Katniss, you even look happy. Have fun tonight." She winks at the end, and I smile again a bit. When Prim comes up, we drop the conversation and listen to her day so far.

I have history with Peeta next, but we have assigned seats in that class, across the room from each other right now. I look over and smile at him, and he returns it. I can't help my gaze falling towards him every few minutes. I shake the thought out, and try to focus on the boring history of how coal was discovered.

Once 6th period's class ends, I scramble out of there, and get to the willow tree quickly. I pause slightly when I see him already there, leaning against the tree causally. I quickly start walking again, and he turns with a smile. I get lost in his twinkling cerulean blue eyes, but snap out of it when he laughs.

"Katniss? Did you hear me?" He asks, with a smirk.

"Um, no sorry." I blush slightly.

"Are you ready to go?" I nod, and we start walking. "So, you any good at drawing?" I laugh when he asks this.

"Never really tried. I highly doubt it though."

"We'll see about that." He responds, and for once, I'm slightly nervous of Peeta Mellark's plans.

**Hey, just a reminder, REVIEW PLEASE. (:**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hopefully posting again tomorrow! Don't forget to drop off a review; they are really motivating for me! Enjoy(:**

When Peeta pulls me into the bakery, he sits me down at a table, and starts having me draw simple swirls. The problem is I don't think he could even tell they are swirls… I drop the pencil, and growl.

"I forfeit! I can't keep trying this Peeta, they look horrible!" He laughs, and puts the dough he was kneading into a bowl and tosses a small square of fabric over it.

"Alright. Well, the bread has to rise for a while, so you want to frost some cupcakes? Those are fairly simple to do."

"You said that about drawing swirls and look how that came out." I grumble back. He sits in a chair across from me and chuckles.

"Alright. Well, I don't know much about you. What's your favorite color?"

"Green. Like the forest. What about you?"

"Sunset orange. Like the color of your shirt and ribbon." I blush slightly. "By the way, the color suits you."

"Thanks. What do you do for fun?" I question, keeping my promise with Prim and getting to know him.

"I usually sketch a bit. Hang out with friends occasionally. Most of the time I just ice cakes or cookies when I don't have anything to do."

"Your cakes are always very nice. Prim loves them so much." He smiles at that, and gets up. He disappears into a back room, and comes back with a tray of white cupcakes and two bags of frosting. He hands me the bag with pink icing, and I look at him with surprise.

"You're joking, right?" He laughs, and stands behind me.

"Here," he sets a cupcake down in front of me, and grabs my hands, "you just hold the bag like this, and go in circles that slowly get smaller." His hands lightly guide mine, and I shiver slightly at the feel of his rough hands. When he let's go, I admit it disappoints me just a bit. He slides into his chair, and begins frosting quickly in a delicate way. When he finishes the first one, I notice the cupcake's decorated with a primrose made out of frosting.

"She's going to love seeing that tomorrow." I whisper, looking up at him. He smiles at me nicely. We work away on the cupcakes, and most of mine actually look nice. After the last one is frosted, he stands to form the dough into two loaves, and slips them in the oven. I stand up and stretch, then pull up my school bag. "I should probably head home; it's starting to get late."

"Alright. Thanks for coming over, and helping. I appreciate it." Before I can respond, he slips a cardboard box into my hands. I peek in, to see one primrose cupcake and one of my pink ones.

"Peeta, I can't afford to pay for these."

"Don't worry about it. Consider it a paycheck for helping me out. I won't take those back, once a customer touches them we don't take them back." He teases, and winks at me. I grin back, and suddenly hug him.

"Thanks for this Peeta. Today was really fun."

"No problem Katniss. I'll see you tomorrow?" He pulls away slightly, and I notice how close our faces are together. His breath washes over my face, filling with a sweet smell of cinnamon. He leans down slightly, and brushes my lips slightly with his. I suddenly snap out of whatever I was thinking, and back up.

"I, uh, tomorrow." I say, and run out the door. I rush through our front door, and slam it shut. What I don't realize until I slam the door though, is Rory tangled around Prim and trying to back up quickly, both of them beat red. My mom is nowhere in sight. I get flustered, and go from confusion to anger in two seconds flat.

"Katniss, we were just-"Prim stutters, but I interrupt her.

"Studying English with your lips? Oh, saying good night to Rory." Rory quickly gets the hint, and grabs his bag.

"See you tomorrow Prim." He manages to say before sprinting out of the house.

"Where is mom?" I demand, and she slinks into the couch corner.

"She had another house call, said something about not being back until tomorrow. Katniss I'm sorry!" She whimpers, but I hold up my hand.

"I'm just going to ignore what happened for tonight. We'll discuss it tomorrow. Peeta made you something." I pull out the primrose cupcake, and she gasps.

"Oh my gosh! It's so beautiful! Thank you for seeing him today." My thoughts wander back to when his lips brushed mine, and they suddenly feel tingly. I nod at her, then climbing the steps to bed. Way too much happened tonight.

Peeta and I continue the week as though nothing happened, and when we work on our project, we still ignore what happened. My mind won't forget what happened though. The rest of the month passes by quickly, and on the last day, Peeta suddenly asks me something I thought he'd never ask again.

"You want to hang out again? I don't really want to just not talk with you again. I mean, we're friends, right?"

I smile at him. "Of course, and sure, we can hang out again. Maybe use our Mondays like we did for that project?" He nods, and I smile.

The bell rings, signaling the end of Trigonometry until next week.

"See you on Monday Katniss." He smiles, and my stomach flutters. Something tells me I want to be more than friends with Peeta Mellark.

**Review! See you guys soon(:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Got a ton more story alerts and reviews! I just want to say to all of you, thank you so much for putting me on your alerts or spending a bit of your time to review! I try to respond to reviews as much as I can, but if I don't, please don't take it personally. I am super deep in homework with break coming, so I will try my best to respond. It is awesome though, all of your support! I have people all around the world reading, and over a thousand hits. Totally want to cry with happiness(': So, I have already seen the Hunger Games movie twice! How about you guys? Tell me in a review! Alright, I'll shut up now. Here is Chapter Seven!**

KPOV

I tap my foot impatiently at the willow tree after school, waiting for Prim. She runs out the doors, and into my arms. I laugh out loud.

"Hey little duck! How was class?"

"Great! Katniss, can Rory come over today? You haven't listened to me or him since that night…" I cringe at the memory, but nod. She squeals and hugs me again, and all I can do is chuckle. She turns 13 in a few weeks, and it scares me how quickly she's growing up.

"Let's go home." I say, twining my fingers in hers. I see her glance over, and Rory look nervously back. She nods, and he smiles. Suddenly, there is a third to our walking party.

"Uh, hi Katniss." Rory mumbles, and I look at him.

"Hi Rory. How was school?" He smiles again, looking relieved that I didn't yell at him.

"Good. What about you? Anything fun with Peeta?" I smile, and nod slightly.

"We're hanging out next Monday." Prim jumps.

"It's about time! You never hung out with him after the last time, which concerns me..." I never told Prim about what had happened, I had decided it was just safer to stay quiet.

"We've been busy. The project and hunting, plus his baking schedule." I lie smoothly, and she nods. When we near the Meadow, I stop. "Let's talk here, alright?" They both nod, and we all slump into a patch over purple pansies.

"How long?" I ask, looking Prim in the eyes.

"Two months, three weeks and five days." She mumbles, going red slightly.

"Prim! You didn't tell me for that long?" I shout.

"You would have acted just like you are now! And told me not a chance in hell!" She yells back, and grabs Rory's hand. "We're together, whether you like it or not. I'm not a little kid anymore Katniss, I'm almost thirteen."

I stare at her in shock, my mouth gaping slightly at her. Finally after a few minutes, I nod. The one trait Prim got from me was being stubborn, so I know I won't win if she's set on this. She smiles at me.

"Good. I'm going home now, with Rory. We have to finish our English project. Go hunt." She stands, Rory following.

I abruptly stand and grab Rory, pulling him over. I crouch to his level, and whisper in his ear, "You hurt her, and you meet my arrow personally." He gulps, and nods. I smile, and shove him towards Prim.

I slink under the fence, pull out my bow and arrows, and jog to my meeting spot with Gale. He arrives a few minutes later, smiling.

"Hey Catnip."

"Hi. Listen, I can't hunt on Monday again. I'm…busy." I try to carefully say, but he still gets an annoyed look.

"That's fine. I guess. Finishing up the Trig project I assume?" Thank you Gale, for the perfect excuse.

"Yeah, the teacher says we messed up the last step. I don't want Peeta to fail, so we're fixing it. Let's hunt." I try to change the subject, and load my bow.

We end up bringing down a good amount of game. When we split the game, I end up with four squirrels, two rabbits, eight fish, and a wild dog. I sell the wild dog to Sae, earning a good handful of coins. I decide to take the squirrels to the Mellark's. I stroll to the bakery, and peer in a window before entering, to make sure the witch isn't there. When I pull the door open, the bell dings and I see Peeta look up.

"Hey you." He says, smiling.

"Want some squirrel?" I ask, holding up the four of them by the tails.

He laughs, "Yeah sure. So, cheese buns, plain, or grain?"

"Cheese buns. Definitely cheese buns!" I smile, and watch him bag nine of them. Then he tosses me an extra over the counter.

"I know it's extra, but you have no idea how grateful my dad and I are for the fresh meat." I smile, and take a bite.

"So good." I moan. He smiles and slides the bag on the counter, and I hand him the squirrels. He puts them in a spare bag, and throws them on the kitchen counter.

"What are you up to this weekend?" He asks, and leans on the counter next to me.

"Nothing. Probably just going to spend the day hunting tomorrow. Sunday is wide open though. What about you?"

"Baking a cake all weekend. My parent's anniversary is Sunday, so they will be gone that day. I don't know why, it isn't like they'll celebrate. But anyways, my brothers asked for me to cover for them so they could go on dates." He shrugs, but smiles. "At least Monday will be fun!" He winks at me, and I giggle. Where the hell did that come from Katniss? Giggling? Really?

"Well, we could hang out tomorrow too. I could sit and hang around while you work on the cake." He gets excited.

"Really? You'd come over?" I laugh and punch his shoulder playfully.

"Of course! Anything for my best friend!" We laugh, but he quiets down.

"Isn't Gale your best friend?" He whispers.

"Well, he was. He hasn't really acted like one lately." I whisper back. He smiles sadly. A crash comes from the back door.

"PEETA! WHY ISN'T YOUR ASS BACK HERE BAKING BREAD?" He gulps, and I grab the bag. Before he knows what happens, I kiss him on the cheek quickly, and whisper a good bye until Sunday, then slink out the front door. I can hear his mom still when I leave. "YOU LAZY OAF! YOU BETTER DAMN WELL HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR NOT BAKING!" A crack sounds off when he doesn't answer, and I wince. I peer into the window to see a welt forming across his cheek, his eye already bruising. I wince again, and catch his eye. He looks like he's in a lot of pain, and I mouth to him, MEADOW, MIDNIGHT.

He nods, and is mom starts yelling again. I run back to the seam, barreling into the door. My mom looks up, and catches my expression. "I need something for a black eye and welt cream." I say, and she nods. She sets them on the counter and I thank her. I sit on the couch, and fidget until midnight rolls around. Hold on Peeta, I keep repeating in my head. His mom slapping him repeats in my mind over and over, and every time makes me wince more.

**God, don't you just hate the witch too? Poor Peeta! Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So I have to admit, I'm a little bummed out. I've gotten about three reviews since Monday. Where's the reviews guys? I am not going to be one of those evil authors who demand a certain amount each chapter, but it would be nice to get a few more every chapter… Here is Chapter Eight anyways! Enjoy(:**

I sit in a small patch of daffodils, staring towards the road that comes from town toward the Meadow. Peeta comes limping up, and I immediately stand up, and jog to meet him. When he gets close enough to me, I hug him. He stiffens slightly, and then relaxes. When I squeeze slightly, I hear him whimper.

"Oh! Are you okay?" I look up to see his eyes slightly glassy, well one of them. His left eye is swollen a bit, purple ringing around his eye. His cheek has a welt on it, and looks like it split from impact. He barely nods, but a lone tear escapes his right eye. I reach up and wipe it away lightly, and thread my fingers with his. We walk over to a patch of grass obscured from view by big, leafy bushes. I sit down, and help him get seated. Reaching into my small leather pouch, I pull out the cream and ointment, setting them on the grass next to me. "This might sting slightly, alright?" His hand stay tight in mine, and I squeeze it in a calming way.

I dab a bit of ointment on his welt, and every time I touch, no matter how lightly, he winces. After lightly coating the cut, I use some cream and smear it around his eye. The swelling immediately starts to go down, which I'm thankful for. When I finish with his face, I close the remedies and put them back in the pouch.

He grimaces, in attempt to smiling I think, and I hug him again. My head rests in the crook of his neck, and I hear him whisper thank you. We stay like this for a while, and soon I fall asleep. Peeta must fall asleep too, because when I wake up the sun is rising, and we are still in the Meadow.

Quickly sitting up, I shake Peeta's shoulder lightly. "Peeta! You need to get up, it's sunrise!" His eyes open slightly, and suddenly he sits up.

"Crap! I'm so sorry Katniss!" He says a slight urgency in his voice.

"Its fine, I think I fell asleep first anyways. Your cut looks better, and your eye only has a lilac tint to it." I reply, completely calm.

"Thanks for that, you didn't have to." He looks down slightly, but I slink a finger under his chin, and lift it up.

"You don't deserve to be treated like that Peeta. Ever." I whisper. He starts to lean in, and this time I don't freak out. When our lips brush slightly, I hear a shout.

"KATNISS! Where are you?" Prim. Of course it is Prim. Peeta laughs and we both stand up. "There you are! Oh, hi Peeta! Look at your eye! What happened?" She runs up, and lightly checks his face.

"I tripped at the bakery, hit a stool." He lies smoothly, but she looks at him with uncertainty. I shake my head slightly, and she drops it. "I should probably head home; I got to start my shift soon. See you later?" He asks, turning towards me.

"See you later." I smile, and he grins back. When Peeta disappears, Prim giggles.

"Katniss and Peeta, sitting in a tree, K-" She gets cut off by my hand, muffling the rest of the silly song.

"Shush. Let's go home, alright? Some stew sounds good, I'm starving!" She smiles, and we chit chat all the way back home, and walk in to Rory happily talking with Mother at the dinner table with a bowl of stew in front of him.

"There you are!" Mother says, with a knowing smile. I blush slightly, and turn away.

"What's for breakfast?" I ask casually, grabbing a bowl and cheese bun.

"Rabbit stew." She replies, and I nod, filling my bowl then joining everyone else at the table.

"How are you Rory? Haven't seen you for a few days." I casually say, tasting the cheese bun and biting back a moan from its delicious taste.

"Not much. Gale's been teaching me how to make snares, but that's about it." I reply with a simple nod, and finish breakfast quickly.

Scurrying upstairs, I pull on a pair of brown shorts and a forest green top, tying the end of my braid of with a matching green ribbon again. I run back down stairs, and grab a apple and two rolls for Peeta, and throw them into my handy leather pouch. Mother looks up with an enquiring look.

"Where you going today?" She asks, and I pause.

"I'm going to hang out with Peeta today, and help out frosting some cupcakes." She smiles, and hugs me. I immediately freeze up. Mother and I rarely exchange any type of hugs, or all that mushy stuff.

"Have fun Katniss." She releases me, and I'm slightly stunned. "Well, go on!" She nudges me towards the door, and I quickly jog out the door.

A day with just Peeta and me. I can't think of anything better at the moment.

**Don't forget to review guys.!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys! Got some good reviews again, and I don't know who sent this one, but I wanted to point it out since I can't personally reply:**

_Fan:Loving the series's so far! I just have one complaint. I was kinda hoping  
>that katniss' personality was a little less girly. I know it might be hard to<br>change that now, but just a note for next time._

**Thanks for sending me this, I do appreciate complaints or concerns, and they help me more, as long as they are not cruel. I know some of you secretly agree with who wrote this, and don't worry. Katniss does seem a bit girly, but you will see her true colors again shortly! Here is what you all have been waiting for! Enjoy(:**

I peer into the bakery window, and see Peeta reading something at the counter. I reach up and hold the bell to keep it from alerting my entrance, and quietly sneak in. He seems absorbed into whatever he's doing, so I run behind him and look over his shoulder.

"Whatcha doing?" I whisper in his ear.

"Ah!"He yells, falling off the stool he was sitting on. I laugh so hard it hurts, and he gets up and laughs too.

"You scared me so badly! How did you do that?" I point at the bell, and walk over to hold it. He just grins, "That was smart." I laugh again, and we quiet down.

"So what were you doing?" He picks up a small notebook, and flips it open. I look into it, and see pages and pages full of cake sketches, cupcakes, and cookies. "These are amazing! You have a talent." He blushes a bit at my compliment, and I nudge him. "Any frosting for the day?"

"There is a ton. I have that cake; it's for the Mrs. Undersee's birthday. Also Delly's mom ordered a dozen cupcakes. I already finished the cookies for the day. Want to help?"

I nod, "I might not be able to do well though." He laughs.

"You did fine on those pink ones a few weeks ago. Delly likes simple frosted ones like that." He grabs my hand, and pulls me through the archway to the kitchen. I plop into a chair, and he grabs the frosting and icing bags. After sliding the tray of cupcakes to me, and a bag of light green frosting, I get to work. He pulls out a simple two tier cake with white fondant cut and shaped perfectly on it.

His eyebrows scrunch together in focus, and he delicately shapes the icing into perfect lace patterns. I just stare in awe, and suddenly he stands up and looks at me with a smirk.

"You going to stare all day?" My hands involuntarily clench from being caught, causing a stream of frosting to go shooting out and right onto Peeta's shirt.

"Oh my god," I laugh, "I'm so sorry!" He looks up with a slight glint in his eyes, and lifts his icing slightly. "Peeta, I swear I didn't mean too. Just put the icing down." He squeezes quickly, and suddenly my vision is blurred with a precise sky blue. "You're going to regret that!" I growl, and squeeze more frosting onto him.

We start shooting frosting back and forth, and I quickly dive around the table and behind the island. A slight creak to my left gives him away, and I shoot him right in the face with green.

"Ack!" He calls out, and starts to fall. I try to catch him but end up slipping and land on his chest. We start laughing, both of us crying because of laughing too hard. I stop, noticing how close our faces are again. When we start to lean in, the front door bell jingles causing us both to jump apart. He quickly wipes a towel over his face to remove the icing, and from his arms. He grins, and walks out to the front.

"Welcome to Mellark's Bakery, how can I help you?" I hear him ask, and I sit up. Interrupted again. It's becoming extremely irritating. First Prim, now a customer; we are never going to catch a break. The front door bell jingles again, signaling that the customer has left. When Peeta walks back in, he starts laughing again.

"You look ridiculous in all the blue and green icing! Did you want me to wash your clothes?" I look down, and think of walking through the Seam like this. I nod quickly, and he grabs my hand, pulling me upstairs. "Here, you can borrow my sweats and a t-shirt."

I gingerly take the clothes, and slip into the bathroom. I shed the clothes off, and rinse my hair out in the sink. After slipping on his sweats, I have to tie them tight to keep them up. The shirt hangs off me, but I don't really care. Grabbing my clothes, I step out and see Peeta leaning on the wall. His eyes look up and down, and I see a glint in his eyes. He almost looks…hungry? I hand him my clothes, and he washes them quickly, and then hangs them on a drying rack by the wash bin.

"Can I see your room?" I ask, and he nods with a deep breath. Peeta turns and walks down the hall, stopping at the second on the left. The door swings open, and I see the walls covered in paper. Some are colored; others are simply black and white sketches. I walk close to the wall, skimming over the photos. I halt to see a little girl, clad with an ill-fitting black dress kneeling on the ground by a grave. A small blonde girl sits curled into her side, tears pouring down their faces. My eyes water slightly when I realize it is me, the little girl being Prim. That was the day we were at our father's funeral.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. None of you deserved what happened to him." I hear Peeta whisper into my ear. I flip around quickly, and press my lips on his. He jumps slightly for the quick reaction, but his hands snake around my waist. He tastes of frosting, a slight edge of cinnamon too. We part, and he rests his forehead on mine. I look up into those beautiful, cerulean colored eyes and smile.

For the first time since I was eleven, I give a real smile.

**Awww(': Alright, finally caved on the mush. Now see the little button that says review? You should push it! (; **

**See you all soon!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi all! Soo, I got a lot of reviews from that last chapter! Sorry I haven't updated for a bit, I went and saw THE HUNGER GAMES, again, last night. And today I was stuck cleaning my room, so I finally got a chance to update now. Break has officially started, which means a ton of updates going on this week. My goal is to write anywhere between 2-5 chapters a day, and possibly have this story end somewhere around 25 to 30 chapters? I don't know, we'll see. I will have more stories after this, no worries. Got a fat notebook stuffed of them since last September! If you don't mind, review at the end of this chapter.! Here's Chapter Ten!**

Peeta grins back at me, and I sigh. I don't know what changed, but Peeta made me see the world slightly brighter. The photo of Prim and I at my dad's grave really showed to me that he cared.

"Thank you." I whisper to Peeta.

"For what?" He asks, a questioning look creeping onto his face.

"For giving me closure on my dad's death. I needed to hear that from someone certain, and I never realized it was you who needed to say that to me." I respond, and his eyes shimmer.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long." He mumbles before pressing his lips on mine again. They're soft and comforting, his arms wrapping me tightly into his embrace. I feel at home, safe. Something I haven't felt for too long. When we pull apart, Peeta holds my hands and takes an extra step back.

"Katniss, will you be my girlfriend?" He asks, looking slightly nervous. I tense slightly. For five years, I have sworn to being forever alone. I didn't want kids, let alone a marriage. But this is just dating, so what harm could it do, right? I must pause for too long, because he drops our hands, mumbling an apology and turning to go away.

"Peeta wait," I grab his hand quickly, "yes." He looks surprised, and then swings me into a hug. I laugh lightly, and squeeze him tight. I see the clock, and my eyes widen.

"Hey, um not to kill the moment, but it is almost five. What time is your family supposed to be back at?" He puts me down, and looks panicked.

"In fifteen minutes. Here, you're shirt is dry," He tosses it to me, and I catch it, "your pants are not though, so you could borrow my sweats until tomorrow." I nod, and jump in the bathroom, pulling his shirt off and mine on. Quickly running down stairs, Peeta is already wiping the mess off the floor. I grab an extra rag, and wipe the counters and everything else. In about five minutes, the kitchen is spotless. The cupcakes are finished being frosted, Peeta adds the final touches to the cake, and they sit in their boxes back in the small fridge for orders. Just as the front door bells jingles, I kiss Peeta once more.

"See you tomorrow." I whisper to him, slipping out the back door.

"Tomorrow." He whispers back with a smile.

I walk home, but stop at the Meadow and pick a bunch of flowers. Carefully, I construct a bouquet of daffodils, purple pansies and white daisies. Using my ribbon from my hair, I tie them all together and walk home. I must be smiling, because everyone stares with astonishment when I walk by. I quickly start scowling, covering up my slip.

I walk through the door, and see Mom knitting away and Prim lying on the floor with Buttercup. Prim looks up and the sound of the door closing and laughs. Mom glances up too, and smirks knowingly.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you just kissed a boy." She teases, and blood rushes to my cheeks.

"Oh my gosh! You did!" Prim squeals, and jumps up to hug me. I giggle too, feeling on top of the clouds right now. "Peeta has got to be so happy!" This confuses me slightly, but I push the thoughts aside. I see a pansy fall to the ground, and remember the flowers.

I walk to the kitchen, and pull of a small vase I had bartered for a few years back, and fill it with some water. After filling the vase with cool water, I slide the bunch in and set it on the table.

"Pretty." Prim says with a grin. I smile back widely, and her eyes widen slightly. "You love him." She whispers, and I shake my head.

"No, I don't uh…" I stutter out. I don't love him, right? I mean, I don't even want to marry. Even loving is too much. Prim is the only one I truly love. "No." I say firmly, but she just smirks.

"Just keep telling yourself that Katniss." She says in a confident voice, and turns for the fireplace. Mom comes over and hugs me, whispering that she's happy for me. I decide to ignore her comment completely, and grab a apple off the counter, and head upstairs.

"Night!" I call out, and get mumbled responses back. I slink over to my bed, and spread over it. My mind wanders back to Peeta's, and I trace my lips lightly. I smile remembering the way they softly grazed mine before he kissed me, and how he always kissed my nose sweetly after. I take a bite of the apple, and look over at the photo of Prim and I that Peeta drew.

He was so timid when he gave me that photo. Now, Peeta playfully punches me. I've grown to trust him a lot, but we don't talk much at school still. We saved our friendship for home. I finish my apple off, and open the small window, throwing the core out to Lady. She gives a sound of appreciation back, and I close the window. I lie back in bed, and cozy down under the covers. Today was perfect.

When I wake up the next morning, I pull on some black pants with a grey shirt. I pull my hair up into a ponytail, something I haven't done in years. I run downstairs, and see Prim holding my bag and hers, with a smile. I grab it from her, and walk towards the door, only to stop. Peeta Mellark stands in front of me, with a smile.

"Hi." He says, leaning casually against our door.

"Hey!" I smile, and walk up. He kisses me lightly, and twines his fingers with mine.

"This alright if I walk you girls to school?" He asks. I nod, and Prim squeals. We all leave, and start walking the long-ish walk to town. When we reach the fork that splits the Seam into two separate streets, I hear the voice I wish I didn't.

"Catnip?"

**Alright, so some of you wanted some more Gale in, as in tension. He is a bit hit and miss, but you'll see a bit more of him in the next chapters, and everyone's real personalities a bit more as we go along. Just remember, if I followed the book's characters and their exact qualities, you'd be reading the book, not my fanfic. (: Hope you loved this Chapter! Since I took forever to update, I am aiming to add two chapters tomorrow. Not a promise, but we will see! REVIEW PLEASE 3**

**Kisses,**

**-hungergamestribute18**


	11. Chapter 11

**Loved the reviews I got from the last chapter, had to laugh at some! Rest assured, I think Gale is okay, but I sure as hell will ****NEVER**** pair him and Katniss together. The idea, well, it repulses me. Oh, and shout out to NeverRegretAnything, I like to leave you cliffhangers just to keep you tuned in(; Alright, enough of my rambling, here is Chapter 11 as promised.**

I turn to see Gale staring at me, a look of pure hatred crossing his eyes quickly.

"Hi, uh, Gale." I stutter, my hand on Peeta's clenching a bit.

"What is _he_ doing here?" He spits out, is jaw ticking.

"He's walking us to school." I reply calmly, but my patience is being tested. A lot.

"_He_ has no right to be here! He is a townie, not a Seam!" He yells, and I glare at him, and snap.

"_He_ has a name! And it is Peeta! Peeta," I scream, "is my boyfriend! Now are you going to act mature about it Gale, or be an ass?" His face has shock written all over it, and Prim is covering her mouth, eyes glimmering with silent laughter.

"Let's just go to school." He mumbles, and I gladly take Peeta's hand again, and we resume our walk to school.

"Did the Undersee's like their cake?" I ask Peeta, and he smiles.

"Loved it, especially the small flecks of blue and green splattered in some spots." He grins at me, and I blush. "Wouldn't know why that happened, would you?" I punch him playfully, and Prim runs up.

"Why is there green and blue flecks across the cake?" She asks with a mischievous grin. I blush even more at that, and she laughs.

I hear Gale huff, and I whip my head around. He glares at me, and I scowl in return. Peeta leans by my ear and whispers that it isn't worth it. I turn back around and we finally arrive at school. Gale mumbles a goodbye, quickly parting for the 12th grade wing. Prim hugs me and grabs Rory's hand, skipping to 6th grade. Everyone stares at Peeta and I, causing me fidget.

"Just ignore them." He whispers, and I smile a bit.

When we get to my locker, I pull in some books and class work. Shutting the door quickly, I turn around to Peeta. "See you in Trig?" I ask with a smirk.

He leans down to kiss my forehead. "Yeah." With a smile, Peeta leaves to his first period, which is art. All they do is sketch the mines and stuff like that, but Peeta enjoys learning the facts about art. I smile to myself, and go to first period. Madge sits in the back next to an empty desk, and I slide in.

"Hey." I say with a smile.

She looks a bit flabbergasted. "Hey, uh Katniss. You're in a good mood…" I nod with a slight smirk. "Peeta." She whispers, then grins like a fool.

"How did you know?" I ask, stunned that she figured out.

"I didn't. But you just proved to me that I was right!" She laughs, and I scowl back, but give into the laughter too. We both wheeze for breath, and everyone stares at us as though we are completely crazy. The bell rings out, and we quiet down. Between moments of silence, we glance at each other and grin with snickers.

After the bells rings again, we say our goodbyes and I race towards Trigonometry. Peeta is sitting at our usual desks with a warm smile. I slide in next to him and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi." I say, and the bell rings before he can respond. We silently hold hands under our desks, and work diligently through class. Trig always passes too quickly for me. The bell rings again, and I grimace. Another class without Peeta, it is even physical education. We stand up, and I lean up to give him a quick kiss.

"Lunchtime?" I ask. He nods, and we part.

I get into the dingy locker room and make my way to the small locker that holds my gym clothes. Quickly, I pull off my grey shirt for the dirty brown colored one, with Everdeen scrawled on the back. As soon as I pull the shirt on, I get shoved into my locker. Face first.

"Hello Everdeen." I hear a squeaky voice say. I whip around, knowing my braid is long enough to hit the person in the face. I come face to face with a Sara Shrewman.

"Sara. What the hell do you want." I snap, scowling. One of her friends behind her shrinks a bit, but stands up straight. Sara flips her long straight blonde hair back, and tries to glare back.

"Stay away from Peeta. He is mine, and you definitely don't deserve him." She spits back, and I grin back.

"Oh really?" I say, and then lean back. "What makes you think you deserve him?"

She ponders for a second, and then quickly answers, "I just do. Stay away from him, or you'll regret it."

I lean forward next to her ear, and whisper, "The only thing I will regret is messing up my arrows with your blood. Just remember I shoot straight. Every. Single. Time." I flop back against the lockers, and she visibly is shaking now. Her friends have run away, and she sneaks in one last comment before running away.

"You'll regret this Everdeen. I swear on it. He is mine, and will never belong to a Seam brat like you."

We'll see Sara, we'll see. I silently think, and turn back to finish changing.

**Ah, gotta love those needy bitches. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! REVIEW. **


	12. Chapter 12

**I was cracking up at some reviews that I got from Chapter 11. You guys are awesome(: Almost 2000 hits already in a day. You have no idea how excited that makes me, and thankful that I got the guts to post this story! Today was a travel day, went to Florida! Sneaking in another chapter later tonight too! Love you all, and don't forget to drop me a review.**

The school day finished quickly, and I spent most of the extra time between classes with Peeta. When the last bell rings, I jump for my bag and shoot out of class towards the willow tree. Prim is happily talking with Peeta, Rory holding her hand and smiling slightly. I jog over, and Peeta smiles.

"Hi guys." I say, and they all grin in response. "How was your day?" I ask Prim.

"Same as usual, long and boring." She responds, and then quickly adds in, "Rory and I have a small date, so I have to go. See you tonight." Prim smiles and I give a wink back. I may not be thrilled that she is dating at such a young age, but she is so mature that I figure she can handle it. Rory gives a small wave, and they head off towards the Seam.

"Shall we?" Peeta asks, holding out his hand.

My fingers twine into his, "we shall." I notice how our hands fit perfectly. They almost seem like they were meant to be together. This pulls a small smile out of me, but Peeta catches me.

"What are you smiling about?" He asks, and I decide to cover up.

"Prim this morning, she was being silly with Buttercup." He gives a small chuckle, and we walk towards the bakery. When we walk through the front door, we know that today his mother always has the day off. His oldest brother does too, so it's just Mr. Mellark and Rye. Rye sits at the counter, and grins evilly.

"Hi Rye." I say, slightly nervous. Rye is the king at embarrassment, and I know from firsthand.

"So what were you guys doing yesterday?" He asks nonchalantly. I pale slightly at his tone.

"Frosting and icing. You know that Rye." Peeta answers calmly, and lets go of my hand to tie on an apron.

"Just frosting and icing?" He presses, and I blush as red as a tomato. "I knew it! You guys totally kissed."

"How-uh-what?" Peeta stutters out, and Rye just laughs.

"It is so written all over your faces. Plus there was frosting still under the table, on my chair. That only gets there from squirting it all over. And icing smears up the wall outside the bathroom. Which only comes from a make out session. I would know that one for sure." He adds that last sentence on with a wink.

"Oh." Is all Peeta says, and internally I laugh at him slightly. Oh Peeta, you're always one for words. The only word you can think of is oh?

"Yeah, we did." I admit quietly, and Rye bellows out laughter.

"I knew it would happen sooner or later. Glad you grew pair of balls Peeta. We all know Sara sure as hell was the man in that relationship." Rye says with laughter. Wait, did he just say Sara? I look at Peeta, and he glances nervously at me. I decide to ask him while he is baking.

"Let's go." I hear Peeta mumble, and I follow him back into the kitchen. His dad must be delivering orders, because the baker is nowhere to be seen.

"Did you date Sara Shrewman?" I blurt out, and he turns around quickly.

"Uh, yeah. She was super clingy, and too possessive." I nod, but he suddenly gets suspicious. "Why?"

"No reason." I lie smoothly. So Sara was the jealous ex. The thought is kind of entertaining to me. I walk next to him, and give him a quick kiss. "What is on the menu today?" I ask, and we immediately start baking. When the clock hits five, I head home.

"Hey Katniss!" I hear a familiar voice call out, and turn to see Madge walking towards the bakery.

"Hi Madge." I smile at her lightly, "what's up?"

"Oh not much, just picking up some twists. Mother was craving some, and all we have is cookies and cake." I nod, not sure what to say. "Hey, can we hang out tomorrow evening? We haven't for a while." She asks, with slight excitement.

"Sure. I have to hunt first, but I could come over after that." We agree to that, and head our separate ways.

I hear some male voices in my home, and open the door to find Gale sitting in our kitchen, talking to my mom.

"Hey Catnip." He says without looking at me.

"Hi Gale. Come to apologize?" I ask, still rather annoyed about earlier. He grimaces at me, and I scowl back. "Guess not." I reply, flopping onto the couch.

I pull out homework and start working, completely ignoring Gale's presence. He leaves around six, without a goodbye.

What has happened to our friendship? I can't help but think it has to do a lot with Peeta.

**Review(:**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, okay. So you guys should expect for Katniss to lose her girly act soon. Just a heads up. You have to work up to that point, but my ****story will alter character personalities in the end.**** Alright, off my soap box! Your reviews are amazing, keep them coming! As promised, here is Chapter 13.**

I toss and turn all night, trying to decipher Gale. Why is he acting so weird? I know he doesn't like town people, but come on. This is going a little far. After still being awake around one in the morning, I decide to get up. I pull on a warm pair of cargo pants, and a dark green jacket. I braid my hair into the usual, minus the bow, and slip out of our warm home heading to the Meadow.

I see the little patch of daffodils that I favor, and sit in the middle of them. A cool breeze sways the flowers lightly, relaxing me a lot. I lay back, the long soft green grass forming a pillow for my head, and begin to hum a song I haven't sang since my father died. Humming turns to light singing before I notice.

"Deep in the meadow, under a willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when they open, the sun will rise

Here it's safe, and here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm—." I stop singing when I hear a voice.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I turn and see Gale, standing about fifteen feet away. I shake my head, and he continues, "Look, I'm sorry Catnip. Things have just been…hard lately." He looks down, and I decide to speak up.

"It's fine I guess." He looks up and smiles slightly, but I don't return it. Even though I forgave him, I'm still annoyed with how he's treated Peeta.

"You still aren't thrilled." He quietly says, his smile disappearing.

"Nope. It's going to take a bit for you to fix that one." I reply back, and look back up to the sky.

"We're still hunting tomorrow, right?" He asks hesitantly.

"Yeah. I'm going to Madge after, so I figured we could grab some strawberries for her while we're out." He nods, and I get up. "Well, I'm heading back home. I need to sleep a bit if it's possible."

I walk by him, and get pulled backwards. Before I know what is going on, his lips descend onto mine. I try to fight him, but he holds me in place for a few seconds. His lips taste of pine, and just totally wrong. I shove him hard, and leave without any words.

Why the hell did Gale kiss me? I mean, we're like brother and sister! And I'm dating Peeta! He had the audacity to do that, while I am dating Peeta? Everything is even more confusing, and I slip into bed quietly.

If I thought I couldn't sleep before, I really can't now. I just close my eyes when Prim shakes me awake.

"Time for school Katniss!" She shouts, and I groan. "Ooh, you didn't sleep did you?" I shake my head, and sit up. Grabbing a fresh pair of khakis, I grab my olive green shirt again and change quite slowly in the bathroom. When I look in the mirror, it looks like I died. Deep blue black circles ring my eyes, and my shoulders are visibly slumped. I braid my hair back, and ditch the bow again. I pull on my sturdy leather boots, knowing I will need to go hunting immediately after school to have extra time later tonight. After pulling on my dad's old leather jacket too, I head out with Prim towards school.

Gale is missing at our meeting spot, which I'm slightly grateful for. The kiss plays over and over in my head, and the only thought I think is why? Why did Gale kiss me? I kick pebbles along the road towards school, extremely frustrated with everything going on. I see Peeta leaning on the willow tree when we get to school, a smile on his face. When I don't return it, he drops it quickly.

"What's wrong? You look super tired." He says with worry lacing through the words.

"Just couldn't sleep. Can we go to class now?" I ask impatiently, and start walking. When we get to my locker, I change out books and slam the locker.

"Bye." I mutter, and start to step into class. Peeta's hand grabs my elbow, and I turn around.

"Katniss, what is wrong?" He asks again, and this time I don't answer so kindly.

"Nothing, alright? Just drop it Peeta!" I snap, and his hand drops.

"I'm sorry to be concerned. I will see you later." He responds, sounding hurt.

Great. Now I've upset Peeta. Can't I do anything right? I slam into a desk, and everyone stares. Sara, who's sitting towards the front, gives a light smirk. When I make the motion of pulling out and notching a arrow, she quickly turns around and looks down at her desk. That made today a bit better.

When I get to Trig, I apologize to Peeta, and tell him I'm just stressed. He tells me that he forgives me, but I sense he's still pretty hurt. I kiss him lightly, and hear a smack of a yardstick on our desks.

"Mr. Mellark, Ms. Everdeen. What do you think you're doing? Have you forgotten the PDA rule?" Ms. Bell snaps, and I jump away from Peeta. When we don't respond, she gets angry quickly.

"Detention for both of you. Come in at lunch time." She says, leaving the class to snicker. Peeta glances over, looking pretty sheepish. I blush a lot, and we focus on class from then on.

P.E. flies by, and soon I'm wandering back to Trig. Peeta already waits at the door, and I smile slightly. He still doesn't know about the kiss with Gale, and I don't really want him to. Ms. Bell comes out, and stops.

"Clean the chalk board off, and wipe down all the desks. You can organize papers afterward until lunch is over. Have fun." She ends sarcastically, and then walks bitterly away towards lunch. We go in the class, and get the cleaning done within five minutes. I sit down to eat a bit of lunch, and Peeta slumps across from me.

"Katniss, please tell me what happened last night. You can keep saying nothing happened, but it's pretty damn obvious that it's a lie." I go to lie again, but see the glint of unhappiness in his eyes. I feel guilty immediately, and finally give in.

"Gale kissed me last night." I mumble, looking away from his eyes. I didn't want to see the hurt or betrayal that probably filled them right now. His rough finger brushes under my chin, lifting it to meet his eyes.

"And? Do you feel something for him?" He asks, completely void of emotions.

"I-I don't know. I'm so confused! I mean, we're supposed to be brother and sister, family! Not kissing! He wouldn't get off of me. I swear Peeta; I didn't want to kiss him." I spill all of it out, and put my head on the desk in defeat.

"Katniss?" Peeta says quietly.

"Yes Peeta?" I answer, still not looking up.

"Want me to kick his ass?" I hear him say in a teasing tone, and I look up to see a playful glint in his eyes.

I laugh loudly, and lean over to kiss him. We get back to work, and finish everything with extra time. After saying goodbyes, we part again for classes. The rest of the day goes by quickly, and I dread the school day ending. Don't get me wrong, I want to hang with Madge, but I have to deal with Gale first. I cringe at the thought, as I ascend to the meeting spot we have. He sits on the rock, facing the valley.

"Gale, we need to talk." I say calmly, and he turns with sadness echoing through his eyes.

**Oh man, I know I'm evil to cut it there. Haha! So, sorry I took so long to get this one up. I fell asleep for a while. It has been a super long day! You know what would make it better though? You reviewing(; I have a ton of people putting me on their alerts, and favorites. Just wanted to say, if you're one of them, I freaking love you. **

**Kisses-**

**Hungergamestribute18**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so I fully admit I dropped the ball yesterday. Between having a busy day, and major writer's block, I didn't start typing this chapter until 11pm last night. I'm terribly sorry everyone): Hopefully it won't happen again, but you never know. So I noticed just now, most of the viewing and reviews I get come later at night for me, like hella late. Haha! Gives me something to look forward to in the mornings, right? Thanks for all your reviews and alerts! Here is Chapter 14, and dedicated to my lovely girl **_**DownwiththeCapitol97!**_

"_Gale, we need to talk."I say calmly, and he turns with sadness echoing through his eyes._

"I know." He mumbles back, looking back to the valley.

"Why did you kiss me?" I cut to the chase, and he flinches slightly. After taking a deep breath, he slowly responds, well, mumbles an answer.

"I love you." His words are quiet like the wind, leaving me wondering if I heard him right.

"Why?" I ask quietly, stunned by his confession still. I needed to hear why Gale would want me. Why he thinks of me as more than a sister. The thought of ever kissing him again makes me shiver with slight disgust.

"I don't know!" He groans, and I move closer.

"Well, when did you start loving me then?" I try, wanting an answer badly.

"I guess when you started being around Peeta. I never noticed until then anyways. Seeing you with him…hurts." I get slightly annoyed at this revelation.

"Gale, you're like my brother! And you kissed me, _while I'm dating Peeta._ That crossed way too many lines." I snap.

"We're meant to be together! Katniss, don't you see? We met for a reason, and it's quite obvious that we met so one day we'd fall in love, get married and have kids!" He exclaims, his eyes meeting mine again.

"I will never get married nor have kids." I respond coldly, "you of all people should know that."

"But what if we lived somewhere else? You wouldn't have to worry about the games!" He shoots right back.

"But we don't!" I roar, "why dream of the unreachable? We all know that the games sure as hell won't end for a long time, possibly never! I will not get my hopes up for some silly little dream!" He stares at me with slight surprise.

"Well you sure were wrong about one thing, I don't know you." He says in a icy tone, gets up, and walks away. I huff out air, and fall onto the rock.

What happened to the days where we could hunt for hours, smiling and laughing at petty things? What happened to the days where I wasn't so stressed? More importantly, what happened to my best friend?

That certainly is the biggest question I have no answer to.

.0.0.0.

I end up with a decent haul by myself, a few rabbits, gallon of strawberries, and some squirrels. I trade the squirrels for soap and a few other necessities needed at home, and save the strawberries for Madge. I drop into home quickly, saying hi to Prim and leaving my trades for the day on the counter. Grabbing the strawberries, I start the long-ish walk to Mayor Undersee's estate.

When I arrive, the door swings open before my knuckles even graze it.

"Hi Katniss! Oh, you brought strawberries too! Great!" She says quickly, then ushers me inside.

"Let me grab the money I set aside, one moment." She whizzes out of the room, and I look around while waiting. A simple family portrait adorns the hallway's right wall, with clusters of Madge growing up around it. Shoes sit in delicate lines on a shoe rack to my left, with a coat hanger right by it. I take the chance to pull of my coat and shoes, putting them in the proper places nicely.

"Here!" Madge chirps, rushing back into the room. She plops some coins in my hand, and I fork over the strawberries. With a grin, she grabs my hand and drags me into the kitchen. "Want some tea?"

"Sure. What types do you have?" I ask, sitting at the table.

"Mint and Green."

"Mint please." She nods, pulling two packets of mint and sets them in the cups full of steaming water. Handing my cup to me, we head upstairs to her room. Madge has always had simple taste. Her walls are painted a calm green, white trim with a light brown comforter on her bed. We plop onto it and turn to each other.

"So, Peeta Mellark huh?" She asks with a giggle, and I smile back.

"Yup!"

"So, how did he ask you out? Or did you ask him?" She presses, her excitement being barely contained. This is when I decide to lie about how he did. It feels too special and private to share, so I give her a simple answer.

"We were hanging in the school courtyard, and he just asked out of the blue. It works for me." I smile slightly, and she grins back.

"Speaking of school, you excited for summer? There is only a week of school left!" She states this with fake excitement, and all my happiness drains. Nobody is excited for school to end, because it means only one thing.

The Reaping is in ten days. I shudder, thinking of how Prim is finally old enough for eligibility. I worry not only of her, but Rory also, and Peeta. Oh Peeta. I don't know what I'd do if he ever got pulled. I try to change topics in my head, so I ask Madge about Sara.

"What's with Sara Shrewman being after Peeta?" She chokes on her tea with a snicker.

"Sara is a needy girl who cannot for the life of her get over the past. Why?" She looks inquisitively at me.

"She threatened me, but don't worry, I reminded her of my archery skills." I explain to her what happened, and we both almost pee ourselves with laughter in the end.

"Like she'll get you. She's too scared to ever try anything on you, I'm sure of it." She says when we finally stop laughing.

"I highly doubt it too."

.0.0.0.

The next day at school is normal, Peeta and I glued to each other as much as possible. I admit my worry to him about the Reaping, and he assures me we'll be fine. After school, I discover Madge and I were sadly mistaken. Prim comes out of the building, completely drained of happiness. Her right leg lets off a slight limp, her ankle all bruised up and slightly swollen. When she sees me, she bursts into tears and I run to get her, Peeta right on my heels.

"What happened?" Peeta asks at the same time that I say, "who did it?"

S-S-Sara Sh-sh-rewman." She stutters between sobs, and I immediately get angry. I turn to see Sara and her little followers watching us and laughing. I straighten up, and Peeta grabs my wrist.

"It isn't worth it." He says, but for once I ignore him and march straight to her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I yell at her, meeting her straight in the eyes. My knuckles are white from my fists clenching.

"I warned you. Now stay away from Peeta, or poor wittle Pwim will get hurt more." She taunts back with a new found confidence.

"Well take this as your warning," is all I manage to say before punching her straight in the face. "Touch her again, and next time you meet my arrows personally." I snarl, then leaving her to cry with her little friends. Walking by Peeta who's carrying Prim, I tell him that I'm leaving, and he follows quickly.

None of us talk on the way back to my home, and when we arrive Mother gasps.

"What happened?" She quickly cleans off the couch, and grabs her medical bag.

"A girl went after Prim. Because of me." I mumble, and Prim cries out.

"It wasn't your fault Katniss!"

"It was Prim! Don't argue!" I grab Peeta by his wrist, and drag him outside with a loud door slam.

"I can't believe-" Peeta tries to say, but I cut him off.

"Peeta, we have to break up." He steps back in surprise, and my heart cracks a bit.

"Why? Katniss, you can't blame yourself!" He retorts, with his voice full of dread.

"But I can Peeta! She told me the other day that she'd get me for dating you, and I can't afford for Prim to get hurt because of some silly little relationship. I'm sorry, but we can't do this anymore." I force myself to keep my face void of emotion, and he doesn't bother.

"You can't do this. Please Katniss." He begs, his eyes gleaming with tears.

"I'm sorry Peeta." I quietly say, before turning to go inside.

"Katniss, I love you! Please, don't leave me. I loved you since we were five, even more when we were eleven. This last month has been the best month of my life. Just, please, don't leave me." His voice cracks with emotion at the last words. It takes all my willpower to not turn back, and run into his arms.

"I'm sorry." I whisper one last time, then go inside the house. Prim looks up, and I immediately go upstairs and get into bed. My eyes automatically travel to the picture of Prim and I on the wall. The picture that Peeta drew for me a while ago. Around the picture is many more sketches, like when I frosted my first flower with him, or Prim and I laughing, even Prim being licked on the cheek by Lady. They all are drawn in perfect detail, and my heart breaks. Peeta finally cracked my stone heart. Something that nobody has done since my father left us.

And for the first time in years, I let myself cry.

**I know you guys are going to hate me for that last part, but just hold on with me, kay? Anyone else like the punch she threw at Sara?(; Oh, and I forgot to mention, the start of this story is a little over a month before the Reaping, but you all know they don't get picked. I stated that in the story summary if you didn't notice(; Alright, release your angry thoughts on my in yo reviews. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey all! So I'm going to follow a fellow reviewer's advice to try and improve my story. Did you know that the last chapter was the longest I've posted? I'm pretty proud of that, needless to say. Well, here is Chapter 15!**

I toss and turn again the whole night. My mind is filled with pictures of Peeta's heartbroken face, and his words echo my ears. _Katniss, I love you. Katniss don't leave me. Please. _Silent tears tracks down my face, but I know I made the right choice.

Happiness isn't important; Prim is. She refuses to talk to me no matter what I say. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes explains everything. Honestly, it is probably better that she isn't talking to me. If she had been, I would be bawling from her words.

When morning arrives, I couldn't look more horrible than I do now. My eyes have put up that emotionless wall back up. My hair hangs in my typical braid. I am back to wearing my drab, colorless clothes. My heart is the opposite though. It is full of guilt, dread, and sadness for my choices. I keep reminding myself that is was for Prim, for the better of us.

One silly relationship shouldn't affect my little sister.

Rory knocks on our door when it's time to leave, offering help for Prim walking to school. She nods gratefully towards him, and still gives me the cold shoulder. She'll warm up, and understand I was doing it for her well being.

The walk to school is long, and everyone stares again as I arrive, without a Peeta on my side. Sara stands off to the side of the school. Her right eye is completely black and her nose is taped up tightly. She grins in an evil manner when she sees me. I scowl, sending her back into the frightened shell.

First period drags by, and Madge glances toward me looking sad. When the teacher stops talking to the class, she grasps the chance for a question.

She whispers quietly, "What happened?"

"I broke it off. Our relationship was hurting Prim." I mumble, staring at my papers.

"Who did it?" She asks, but I don't respond.

In fact, I rarely respond to anyone these days. I answer when necessary, never showing emotion. Prim won't talk to me still, and I give up on trying making her. Peeta avoids me like the plague, and Gale? Gale tries hard every time we hunt to get me to say what's wrong. I never respond to that either.

The last day of school rolls around quickly. Peeta and I have yet to talk, and now I feel obligated like I should say something. The Reaping is in three days. Even though I broke it off, I miss him a lot. Rarely do I let myself indulge in the feeling, but I will admit that I miss him. When Trig begins, I sit next to him.

"Hi." I say quietly, and he looks over.

"What do you want Katniss." He says coldly, making me jump with surprise.

"I-I wanted to apologize. For everything, in case you get pulled. For the Reaping." I look down, guilt really pushing on my shoulders. He doesn't answer, so I look up. Little did I know that I was crying silently in his silence?

"Katniss." He says softly, and his thumbs brush the tears away. Nobody notices, because of being caught up for summer plans.

"Peeta, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but Prim-" I say with sadness lacing my words.

"Shh. Prim can take care of herself. Take care of you for once, please?" He asks, and I bite my lip trying to not cry.

"What if she gets picked?" I whisper, and he softens even more at my comment.

"She won't. Her name is only in once. You will both be fine." I relax, and trust Peeta.

"And you?"

"I'll be fine. I promise." He smiles half heartedly, and I return it slightly.

"Peeta, can you forgive me?" He nods, and I hug him before he can respond. His arms wrap around me tightly, and I feel safe again.

"Of course." He mumbles into my neck, sending tingly feelings down my spine.

"Did you mean it? What you said the other night?" I whisper again.

"Yeah. I've always loved you. Always." We pull back, and I smile.

"I don't know if I love you, but I really do like you Peeta."

He grins so widely, I'm sure his face will crack. "That's more than enough for me." The bell rings, and I kiss him lightly.

"I'll come and trade with you tomorrow morning, okay?" He smiles and nods.

.0.0.0.

The rest of the day seems lighter, and after school I see Prim smile at me. The first reaction she's given me since I broke up with Peeta.

"I'm proud of you," she says as she walks up, "you should listen to me more often." I laugh out loud, and hug her tightly.

"I love you Prim." She mumbles in return, and I straighten up. "Let's go home. I want to take you somewhere special tomorrow." Prim's eyes widen, and she grins widely.

We walk home, and I grab a canvas bag, throwing in some towels and a spare change of clothes for each of us. I fill up two canteens too with some water. When mother gets home I tell her my plans for Prim and I. She smiles, and nods in an approving manner. "Have fun, okay?" She says, and I nod quickly.

At bedtime, I tell Prim I have to hunt in the morning, but we can leave as soon as I am done making my rounds. After agreeing, we fall asleep wrapped together.

.0.0.0.

I sneak out of our home quietly like a mouse. I hunt faster than ever today, wanting to see Peeta as soon as possible and show Prim the surprise I have for her. I move to The Hob, selling Sae a small wild dog, earning a decent amount of coins. I trade some fish for soap, and run to Madge's to sell more strawberries.

I knock quietly, and Madge answers quickly.

"Hey." She says, and grins when she sees me holding up the strawberries. Digging in her pockets, she pulls out more coins than usual. "Here, if you get anymore before the…you know… bring them here. Mom's craving them." I smile, and thank her.

I jog over to the Mellark Bakery, arriving at the back door. Peeta swings open the door before I knock, and wraps me into a hug. I laugh out loud, then quiet down thinking the witch may be working.

"Hey." He says with a smile.

I lean up to kiss him lightly. "Hey yourself. Interested in some squirrels?" I managed to bring down five, and I hold them up.

"Hell yes. We've needed the fresh meat horribly. One second." He runs off to the front, then comes back with a loaf of the hearty bread. The same bread he tossed me when we were eleven. I smile, and gratefully take it.

"Thanks." I smile, and he kisses me again. "Oh! How much for a cookie? I thought I would surprise Prim today, since I'm taking her out on a special trip."

"You brought more meat than usual, so here." He backs up, and I hear a box being opened and closed. He turns back to me, holding a small box with Mellark stamped across it. I open it to find a lovely Primrose iced.

"Peeta, I can't take this for free." I whisper, but he shakes his head.

"You paid more than enough already, okay?" Nodding in return, I tuck the bread and cookie into my hunting bag. He leans down to kiss me again, and this time with a bit more passion. I lose myself in the kiss, and grasp his neck tightly.

"PEETA ANDREW MELLARK! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING WITH THAT SCUM?" I quickly jump away to reveal an angry Mrs. Mellark standing just behind him with clenched fists.

"Mom, calm down!" He says, but is sounding weak.

"Calm down! I will NOT calm down when my son is making out with…FILTH!" I notice she is leaning against a door, and starts to raise her hand to hit him. Without a second thought, I pull the knife in my belt and throw it close to her arm, pinning the fabric of her shirt to the wall.

"You will NOT hit him again!" I yell, pushing in front of a stunned Peeta.

"What's going on? Oh!" Mr. Mellark stumbles into the room, and looks surprised by the scene.

"This, SCUM was trying to hurt me!" The witch screeches, and I shake my head.

"If you didn't notice, I pinned your hand, not your neck." I retort.

Peeta chooses to speak up. "She was trying to protect me Dad, she almost hit me again."

Mr. Mellark get bright red with anger, and pulls out my knife, handing it to me. He turns back to his wife, now shaking with anger.

"I've had enough of your abuse Ingrid! You will never touch my sons ever again! Or even step in this bakery anymore! Leave now!" I stand up with surprise, and turn to Peeta. His face mirrors what mine must be.

"Fine! You fools will fail without me anyways!" She screeches, and throws her apron on the ground. I hear the front door slam, and Mr. Mellark slumps with relief.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." He mumbles, and then stalks away.

"Woah." Is all I say, and Peeta just nods. "Are you okay?" I ask, turning to hug his waist.

"Yeah. Great now. She's caused me nothing but stress." He mumbles, and then hugs me. "She was my Mother, but only by birth you know?" I nod, then let go.

"I'm really sorry but I promised Prim to be quick, alright?" He kisses me lightly, and I smile.

"Katniss? Can we meet up tomorrow night? Maybe in the Meadow?" I smile and nod. "Alright. Go to Prim. I love you."

"I know. Bye Peeta." We kiss once more quickly, then I head back home. Excitement fills me, I can't wait for Prim to see the surprise.

"Prim! I'm back! Let's go!" She bounds down the stairs, and I grab the bag I packed, slipping the cookie in before she sees. I grin at her, and we walk out the door hand in hand.

**Alright! I finished Chapter 15, and now you need to review(; Chapter 16 will be up before midnight hopefully.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So, I think the reviewer Cranberries is going to kill me. :3 Haha I love your comments! Crack a smile out of me every time. By the way, as of Chapter 14 I have 83 freaking reviews. I can't believe it! I was excited to get like five, and here I am, waltzing around with 83 reviews! You're all amazing! Here's 16!**

Prim swings our arms between us, humming a tune I don't recognize. I pull her into the Meadow, and she slows.

"Prim, trust me. I promise I'm not making you hunt again." We both think of when I tried teaching her that, and laugh. We slide under the fence, and my feet follow the path I haven't walked for a few months.

"Are we almost there?" I hear Prim ask after the thirty minute walk. Instead of replying, I pull her through the bushes to reveal my favorite place. The lake shines in the sun, flowers blooming wildly around the edges. She gasps, and turns. "How did you find this place?" She asks, glancing around constantly at the lake.

"Dad brought me here when I turned six. That's why we'd come home wet and full of Katniss tubers sometimes in summer. He'd take me out here, teach me how to swim. It was our special place that nobody else knows about. And now it is yours and mine."

Her eyes shine, and she hugs me tightly. "Thanks Katniss." I hug her back, and then pull away.

"Let me grab the blanket." I set down the bag, and jog over to the cement house hidden in the trees. I lift the wood pile, and grab the tarp-wrapped bag. I come back to Prim, and pull out the blanket that we always used, spreading it on the grass by the edge of the water.

"Can you teach me how to swim?" Prim asks with excitement.

"Yeah! Here," I dig in the bag and hand her the clothes I packed, "change into these." She scurries into the little home, and I change while she's in there. I walk into waist deep water, and Prim wades in after me. "Alright, let's start with floating."

In no time, she's mastered swimming and we're making laps around each other. Laughter rings in the trees, our splashes being quite noisy. After a hour of play, we sprawl out on the blanket breathing heavily.

"Katniss?" Prim asks in a small voice.

"Yeah little duck?"

"What if I get pulled?"

I flip over to her, and hold her hand. "It's your first year Prim, you're name is in there only once. They're not going to pick you." I say confidently.

"Promise?" She whispers.

"I promise. Now, do you want your last surprise?"

"You have another one?" She asks with a grin.

"Of course!" I pull out the small bakery box, and hand it to her.

"Oh! This is so pretty! You have to split it with me though; I can't bear to eat it without giving you some." I nod, and she splits it into precise halves. Handing me my piece, we bite into them and moan.

"I knew there was something good in Peeta." Prim giggles, and I grin. We slowly eat our cookie, savoring the sweet taste.

We spend the whole day out there; I fix lunch by catching some fish and smoking them. We could use the calm day knowing that the Reaping is near. Spending the day with Prim makes the top of my list for best days.

I escort her home as soon as sunset hits, not wanting to be caught in the night. Mom sits on the couch, welcoming us with a warm smile. Prim sits by her and spills everything about her day. I smile to myself and snuggle down into our warm bed.

I hoped Father was watching us right now, proud of his daughters. I hoped that he was smiling when Prim talked warmly with Mother, or when I taught her how to swim just like how he taught me. I imagined what he'd be thinking, and it leaves me to a peaceful sleep.

**Alright, I know it was a really, really, REALLY short chapter. But I made 15 slightly longer than usual, so maybe you'll forgive me? I wanted to make it short and sweet. Next stop, Peeniss in the Meadow and then the Reaping! Any ideas on who will be pulled for District Twelve in the 74****th**** Annual Hunger Games? Reviews? (Get me to 100! =])**


	17. Chapter 17

**Love your reviews! And your suggestions for the lovely tributes! (Well, not so lovely…) It took a lot of thought for me to finally decide who was getting pulled for this, and all of your suggestions truly helped me decide. Thanks! Cutting to the chase, here is Chapter 17 and the Reaping you've all been waiting for!**

I try my hardest to spend the next day with Peeta and Prim as much as possible. The day flies by, but at least night time will be filled with Peeta. Prim and I avoid the topic of what tomorrow brings, and we try to have some fun. When Peeta is on his lunch break for an hour, we all walk to the Meadow and have a small picnic. It's full of laughter and smiles. Peeta sketches pictures of us the whole time, and gives me most of them when the hour is up. I promise to meet him again tonight at the Meadow, and Prim leaves us to have a private goodbye.

He kisses me softly, and I can almost taste his nervousness. "I love you." He whispers, and I nod back with a small smile. I catch up to Prim, and she asks if we can go to the Hawthorne home. I know she just wants to be around, just in case. I decide that I am going to just forgive Gale for now. I can't seem to convince myself that if he was chosen, I could send him off into an arena with me still ignoring him.

We knock lightly, and a stressed-out Rory answers the door. Before I say hi, he crashes against Prim, getting a squeak from her when he kisses her. He pulls away quickly, and Prim blushes bright red. I just laugh and go inside. Hazelle stands when she sees me come in, and quickly pulls me into a hug.

"You've been gone too much." She mumbles, and I hug her back.

"I'm sorry. Things have been…complicated with Gale." I reply while she pulls back.

"He messed up didn't he?" She says sternly, and I nod in return. "What am I going to do about that boy?" We both grin, and she guides me into the family room.

"Hey Katniss." Vick and Posy say at the same time. I wave, and go towards Gale, Rory and Vick's room in search of Gale. I poke my head in and see him lying on his bed.

"Hey." I say quietly, and shut the door behind me.

"Hi Katniss." Oh, that stings. He never calls me by my name unless he's upset with me.

"I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have acted the way I did towards you. I'm sorry." He looks up, and smiles slightly.

"I'm sorry for being an ass. I shouldn't have just kissed you like that. Friends?" He holds out a hand.

I smile and grasp his hand, "friends." We laugh, and I remember tomorrow.

"How many times is your name in?"

"42. Guess the odds aren't exactly in my favor." I cringe, hoping he doesn't get pulled.

"At least it is your last year."

Prim and I head home around 8, and have a hefty dinner. The turkey I shot is served with the Katniss tubers Prim and I harvested yesterday. Buttercup even gets a share of the meal at Prim's insistence.

When nine draws around, I tuck Prim in with a kiss on the forehead. She smiles, "Tell Peeta I said hi." I nod, and slip out the door. Mother fell asleep early tonight in our room. This gives me the chance to slip out quietly in Peeta's sweats (I never gave them back) and my light zip up.

When I edge to the Meadow, I see Peeta's silhouette in the sunset and I sneak up behind him, wrapping my arms around him. "Hey." I say into his shoulder, and he turns around to kiss me. I deepen the kiss and slide my tongue across his lower lip. His rubs mine lightly, and tangle together. He parts panting, and I smile.

When he grins back, I look into his beautiful blue eyes and I think if he got pulled. I realize that if he did, I could never live without him. Peeta cracked my stone heart, and made me whole again. No matter what I do or say, he's always right behind me picking up the pieces and putting them back together. He's my dandelion of hope. The one who can calm my fire, not add to them.

"I love you." I say quietly. His eyes widen, and he picks me up quickly. We twirl while he kisses me again lightly.

"I love you too Katniss." We smile goofily at each other and sink into the flowers. I snuggle into his arms, and we lay for a while watching the sunset. Just like that night what seems like years ago, we fall asleep tangled together cozily. When the first light of sunrise beams, we wake up and kiss again.

"I got to go, Prim…" I quietly say, and he nods.

"Good luck." He whispers, kissing me again. I hug him tightly, praying Peeta won't get pulled. Not when I just realized how important he is to me.

"I love you Peeta." He smiles, and hugs me again.

"Love you too Katniss."

I walk down to my home, and walk upstairs. I lay by Prim right as she wakes up screaming.

"Shh. Shh. It's alright Prim. It's okay." I hug her while she cries. "What happened?"

"It was you this time." She wails, and I whisper calming words in her ears. When she calms down, I tell her I have to hunt quickly.

"I'll be back soon, okay? I promised Madge some strawberries." She nods, and I head to the woods quickly. I see Gale is absent today, and I know Rory is probably stressing out. I head to our strawberry patch, and harvest about half a gallon of strawberries. I head into town, and meet Madge at the door. She stands clad in a pretty white dress.

"You look pretty." I say while she is handing me coins.

"Thanks. Good luck Katniss." She says with a slight smile.

"You too Madge." I hurry home knowing that Prim will be stressed out even more. She has just come down in her outfit when I stride into our home.

"Oh Prim! You look beautiful. Don't forget to tuck in your tail, little duck." I joke when her shirt forms a tail in the back.

"Quack!" She says playfully and I smile.

"Laid something out for you Katniss." I hear Mother say, and I nod.

I go upstairs and see a light blue dress from her town days lying on the bed. I change into it, and Mother comes upstairs. "Want me to do your hair?" I nod, and sit. She brushes through my waist length hair, and then braids it up into a nice bun. With a timid smile towards me, we head downstairs and collect Prim. Our clock is nearing 1:30pm, so we all head out. Prim grasps my hand tightly, and I squeeze it reassuringly. When we get close to town square, we see Rory and Gale standing by. I feel arms wrap around me, and I turn to Peeta.

"Hey." I say quietly, and he leans down to kiss me. Prim hugs us both, and Peeta crouches to her level.

"You'll be fine Prim, I promise." She nods, hugging him tightly then running to Rory. I watch them embrace and he kisses her on the cheek. They get in line together for check in leaving Gale alone. I grab Peeta's hand and drag him over with me to Gale.

"Hi Catnip." He says quietly with a small smile.

"Hey Gale. You've met Peeta?" He shakes his head, and they shake hands.

"Nice to meet you Gale." Peeta says politely, and my heart swells for him. Gale nods in return.

"I need to check in. See you after the Reaping?" Gale says, and we both nod. Parting ways, I get into line with Peeta. We get checked in quickly, and head to the separate roped areas. Only a rope separates the boys and girls, so we stand on our sides holding hands still. Effie moves to the stage quickly, clad in her spring green suit and obnoxious pink curled hair.

"Welcome! Welcome! The time has come to select our two tributes for the 74th Annual Hunger Games! But first, here is Mayor Undersee with a small speech!" She steps aside for him, and he gives the speech of Panem's history and treaty of treason. When he finishes, she hops to the microphone. "Something new. Boys first!" She trills, and clicks to the boy tributes bowl. _Please not Peeta. Please, please not Peeta._ "Rory Hawthorne!" I see him frozen in the front, and turn to see Gale with glazed over eyes. "Come on then, Rory, where are you honey?" He slowly edges, and Gale bulldozes through.

"Rory! No! RORY! I volunteer! I volunteer as a tribute!" Gale shouts, pushing Rory backwards.

"No Gale! No!" Rory screams and I quickly move to grab him.

"Come on Rory. Shh." I say in his ear, and pull him towards Hazelle. She holds him while he bawls, and I move back to Peeta, watching Gale mount the steps.

"And who are you young man?" Effie says with a smile.

"Gale Hawthorne." He says sternly, glaring at her slightly.

"Well I bet my buttons that was your younger brother." She responds, ignoring his glare. He nods in response. "Give a round of applause then for Gale Hawthorne!" Effie exclaims. Instead of clapping, I take my three fingers of my left hand and press them to my lips, extending them to Gale. Peeta follows, and soon everyone is doing the same. Gale's face softens slightly, but puts his glare back up when we drop our hands.

"Alright then, let's move on to the ladies!" Effie shakes her head, and moves to the girl bowl. I pray for Prim and I not to get pulled, and Peeta squeezes my hand.

"Sara Shrewman!"

**Surprise! And now, click that button that says review. Any predictions?(;**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for your reviews, love you all. I am for the first time, switching the POV after a few paragraph/lines! Dedicated to iisaninjette, for always reviewing often and never failing to give me a confidence boost for this story!**

I feel like I should feel bad for Sara as she shakily walks up to the stage, but I really don't. She stands strongly, when she gets to the top, and suddenly smiles in a dangerous way that worries me.

"Well go on you two. Shake hands!" Effie insists, and Sara flirtatiously smiles at Gale, while he glares at her suspiciously. "Give it up for District 12's tributes!" Effie squeals, and then they leave for the Justice Building.

I lean up to kiss Peeta in a rush. "I'll be there in a bit." Peeta says, and then turns for the bakery. I sprint to the Justice Building, in line for second to talk to him. Madge bursts in to the building, and I stare at her.

"No offense…but why are you here?" I ask her, and she looks flustered.

"I have to tell him. Before…before it is too late!" She says, looking heartbroken.

"Tell him what Madge?" I ask, and she blushes.

"Katniss, I love him. I have for years, but I never got the courage to tell him. I have to tell him before it is too late."

**Gale POV**

They pull us to the Justice building, and I'm still in shock. Rory had one damn slip, how the hell did he get pulled out of thousands? It doesn't matter now though. I could never let him go to the arena. He's only twelve. I think about Sara. She isn't good, I can already tell. I decide to not trust her immediately.

The peacekeeper pushes me into a small room roughly, and I wait only two minutes before Vick, Rory, Mother and a confused looking Posy stumble into the room. My mom looks upset, Rory is hysterical, and Vick is catatonic. I hold them all tightly.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Katniss can bring in more than enough game, Prim can help with cheese. Rory, take up lessons with Katniss. You need to be able to help in case something happens to me, alright? Vick, behave." I pull Posy in my arms. "Be good, alright? I love you Posy, I'll be back soon." She nods and clutches my neck tightly. We all hug, and Rory wails.

"Promise me you'll come back Gale. Promise me." He whimpers.

"I promise. I'll be back soon." I say confidently, and a peacekeeper barges in.

"Times up!" They all look disappointed.

"I love you Gale." My mom says quickly, then kisses my forehead and pulls the children out. Not thirty seconds later, Katniss flies in the room.

"I'm so sorry!" She says, holding me in a big hug. "Gale, you need to let me go. You need to listen to your next visitor closely." She mumbles. What she doesn't know is I let her go to a certain extent when I saw her this morning with Peeta. She was happy with him, and I could never take that away from her.

"Already did Catnip." I whisper. "Help my family, alright? Just in case…" I trail off, avoiding the word death.

"You can make it. You know how to make snares, and plants. You're a good shot. Get a bow and fight for your family. Fight for Posy. Just fight Gale." She says strongly, and the peacekeeper comes in again.

"I will." I say before she's dragged out.

I sit on the couch, glaring at its soft texture. Who is my next visitor? I didn't expect anyone but my family and Katniss. I hear the door creak open, and see Madge standing there.

"Madge? Why are you here?" I ask, extremely curious of why she's here.

"I love you." She blurts out, and comes over to me. I stand and look at her. Madge loves me? I never would have thought that. I notice her hair gleam a pretty gold in the sunlight, and for the first time look at her. Like _really_ look at her. She is very beautiful, and she looks up. "Say something please." Out of the blue, I lean down and kiss her.

Kissing Madge is nothing like kissing Katniss. I feel more alive than ever, maybe because of the adrenaline of Rory being reaped. She pulls away and smiles slightly.

"Even if you don't feel the same way, just please come home. Have this for good luck." She presses a cool round object in my hand, and I see it's a nicely crafted gold pin. A mockingjay I believe.

"Thanks. I know I don't have much time, but I promise I'll come home." I fall for Madge then and there. Even though it was one kiss, I could see my whole future with her. Our little kids with blonde hair and gray eyes running through the district with glee. I never saw these things when I imagined marrying Katniss. I kiss her again, and the peacekeeper comes in.

"I'll come back for you Madge, I promise!" I shout as she is pulled through the door. It's so unlike me to fall for a townie, but Madge is different. She's kind and caring. Never disrespectful and cruel to anyone. She's just Madge. The girl who's always been friends with Katniss, and sneaks extra coins for the strawberries. Madge is a consistent and reliable person. She's the one. I get pulled through into a car, and driven to the train station. I watch my family, Katniss with Peeta, and Madge push to the front, waving sadly. I look at Madge and mouth to her my promise. She smiles sadly and tears fall down her cheeks.

"So what's with Undersee?" I hear a snobby voice say, and know exactly who it belongs to.

"None of your business Sara." I snarl, and walk towards Effie.

"Where's my room?" Impatience pulls into my voice, but it seems to not affect Effie.

"Right this way Mr. Hawthorne!"

**Alright, I won't be writing in Gale's POV anymore, but I wanted to pull in that little Madge and Gale moment. What do you think? I know Gale is a little OOC, but hey, it's fanfic! I personally think they'd be adorable together, and I've been waiting for the right moment to throw them together. Review my lovely readers! (:**


	19. Chapter 19

**Excuse my language for a moment. Rated M for those younger kids(; **

**108 motherfucking review! Holy shit! You guys are fucking amazing!**

**Alright, I feel better now. :3 So we are going to kind of graze through the parts of prep before The Hunger Games until the interviews, which is what I want to focus on. Alright, now enjoy this Chapter! It is a thank you treat for 108 reviews! I'm thankful for amazing people like all of you(:**

Peeta meets up with Prim and I every night in the town square. Hazelle stays home with the kids, and Madge joins us too when I offer for her to join us. They replay the Reaping the evening they leave. I pay close attention to possible problems. The boy from one looks like a threat, and the girl also seems a bit dangerous. In two, the boy is definitely a major threat by just smiling. The girl, Clove I think? She smiles in a arrogant and vicious way. A girl who resembles a fox from five looks sneaky. The next tributes don't look too dangerous until eleven. The boy, Thresh, is extremely bulky. I sense that he isn't as scary as he comes across though. My heart breaks when I see a little girl, a black version of Prim get pulled. I easily retain her name. Rue is only twelve years old with no volunteers. Prim shakes her head with sadness.

The Tribute Parade runs smoothly. It seems as though we got better stylists in the Capitol, because instead of drab coal mining outfits, Gale and Sara are in sleek black costumes, with capes of synthetic fire. Sara reaches for his hand, but he roughly pulls his away. He actually smiles at the crowd, and the cameras flash some of those crazy capitol ladies fainting and swooning at him. I shudder at their glee.

After waiting a few days, the training ends. When it's time for the viewing to start, Prim leaves for the Hawthorne's. I run to the square to meet Peeta and Madge. We all sit in the front row, our hands all clasping. I was right about those tributes that were intimidating. The pair from one both gets a nine. Cato and Clove from two both receive a ten. Foxface from five gets a five. I snicker, ironic that she gets the same score as her District number right? Thresh gets a ten, not surprising me slightly. Even little Rue manages to pull off a seven! I silently cheer for the girl.

When Sara's face flashes by, she earns an eight. I don't know how she could get that. Did she flirt with the game makers? Maybe give a strip show? I laugh out loud, earning a questioning look from both Peeta and Madge. I shake my head and turn back to the screen. Gale's face comes up, and I feel Madge clutch my hand. I hold my breath and a bold eleven flashes across the screen. I hear someone gasp, and another cheers. Soon the whole town has erupted in screams of happiness, everybody shaking hands and other bouncing. I hug Madge tightly, and she grins.

"He'll come back." I say confidently, and turn to Peeta to give him a light kiss.

There isn't any required show the next night in preparation for the interviews. I decide to take Rory out for the afternoon to teach archery. He picks it up pretty well, and I give him encouraging comments.

"Gale will come home right?" He says abruptly, catching me off guard.

"Of course he will Rory. Do you think he'd honestly give up easily?" He shakes his head a lot. "Exactly. Gale will find a way home, he always does."

The next evening I sit again with Madge and Peeta. I barely pay attention to any of the tributes. When Sara comes on, I decide to listen.

"_Hello Sara!" Caesar says with a fake smile._

_She flirtatiously replies. "Hi Caesar! And how are you?"_

"_I'm great! Let's learn a bit about you. How is the Capitol?" _

"_It is so amazing!" she gushes. "The food, oh! The food is so amazing! And all of you are so lovely! The men are handsome, but I have my eyes on someone else." She grins mischievously._

"_Who might that be?" Caesar says with a glimmer of wonder in his eyes._

"_The boy I came with! Gale!" She squeals, and grins widely."I have loved him for so long Caesar!" The crowd goes wild at that remark._

I feel Madge stiffen, and I squeeze her hand comfortingly. Luckily the buzzer sounds, and she smiles at the camera. Gale comes on with a grin and I sit up.

"_Hi Gale." Caesar says politely, and Gale grins again in return._

"_Hello Caesar." _

"_Tell me Gale, who was the boy you volunteered for at the Reaping?"_

"_My little brother Rory. He means the world to me like my other siblings. I couldn't think of him ever going to the games. So I volunteered." He says, and the crowd gasps. _

"_Very touching. I assume he saw you off too?" Caesar leans in as if expecting a big secret._

"_Yes. I promised him and some others that I would win. No matter what I have to do." He responds in almost an arrogant manner._

"_Gale, you hear Sara's confession earlier. Tell me, what is your opinion?" _

"_Honestly Caesar? She's out of luck. Somebody else holds my heart." He says with a soft smile._

I turn to see Madge smile slightly.

"_Any name to this girl?" Caesar pushes._

"_Miss Madge Undersee." He says affectionately. "I promised her most of all I would return." The crowd gives a big aww at this. The buzzer signals the end of the interview, and Caesar shakes hands with Gale._

"_Gale Hawthorne!" He shouts over the cheering crowd._

Peeta smiles at me, and I see Madge looking dazed. I hug her and tell her I have to go. She nods saying goodbye to Peeta and I, and leaves us alone. "That surprised me." Peeta says with a smile.

"Me too. I knew something happened when he said bye, I was surprised he was over me. Let alone falling for someone else. She's so happy." Peeta smiles again, and leans down to kiss me.

"Shall we get you home?" He offers his hand, and I gratefully take it. We swing our hands between us all the way back, and my mind wanders to what tomorrow will bring. I step up to my door, and turn to kiss Peeta. My arms wrap around his neck, bringing him closer to me. He pushes me against our front door, and we get passionate. But of course, my mom whips open the door, causing me to fall onto the ground and Peeta land on top of me. She laughs loudly, and we both blush deeply.

"Night Katniss." He says in a rush, and then runs home. I turn to my Mom and see her smiling affectionately.

"Young love." She mutters before leaving out the door.

**Thoughts? I can't bring myself to pull the star crossed lover shit with Gale and Sara. That is like pairing up God with the Devil. Super wrong. xP Review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I love you all(: I will update possibly tomorrow night late, but LISTEN TO THIS. I will not be able to update on Sunday, April 8****th****. Got it? Due to holiday and travels, it will be impossible for me to get posting, and I have school on Monday. Last night was a treat with those long ass chapters, so hopefully this will not inconvenience. Thanks! PLEASE READ AUTHOR NOTE AT BOTTOM.**

I hunt for most of the morning with Rory, and we are both silent thinking about what tonight brings. Will Gale survive the bloodbath? Will he have an alliance? Will Careers target him? I fret and bring down a decent haul, and Rory masters his snares. In the end we get seven rabbits, two squirrels and one turkey. I decide on giving Rory a lesson on edible plants, and we end up with a bag full of basil, mint, and a special herb leaves. 

We head straight to The Hob, since I know Hazelle needs more soap for clothes. Rory looks nervous, having never been inside before. My hand reaches for his, and I get a sheepish smile in return. We go to see Sae first, and she buys two rabbits. Some basil is sold off to another vendor for the soap Hazelle needs, and we split the rest between ourselves. I walk Rory home, and make small talk about school. After dropping him off, I head home to leave my share of stuff at my home. Prim waves and declares she is going to see Rory before tonight. I tell Mother I want to visit Peeta, and she smiles.

"Have fun. And tell him I said hi." She waves me off. Pulling my boots back on, I sprint off to the bakery to see Peeta. I'm allowed to hang around now, since the witch is gone. The door dings, and Mr. Mellark sits casually at the counter.

"Good afternoon Katniss." He says without looking up from his newspaper. "How are you?"

"Well, thanks. Peeta in back?" He nods in confirmation, and I walk back. The only rules for me are I have to wear an apron and keep my hair back. I tie on the spare apron that is always waiting for me and run into Peeta by accident. "Oh! Hi Peeta."

He turns to grin at me. "Hey Katniss." I lean up and kiss him sweetly, my fingers finding their own way into his golden locks. We deepen the kiss and I get backed against a counter.

"I don't hear any talking back there!" Mr. Mellark calls out, and we both laugh.

"Alright Dad." Peeta groans. I can't help but snicker with red tinting my cheeks. Peeta pulls out a tray of cupcakes, and I head straight for the frosting. "You know, you are pretty good at frosting cupcakes in plain designs. We should hire you. I mean, the witch isn't here anymore which leaves a open job…" He raises his eyebrows suggestively.

"Peeta, that's great but I can't do that to you. It's your family's money."

"Nonsense. You frost at least a fourth of the cupcakes we sell, and we get the profit off your labor. You should at least get a small cut. Think about it, you're still working for it." After a bit of debating, I finally nod in agreement.

"Hey dad! Interested in picking up another pastry worker?" Peeta says loudly while grinning.

"It's about damn time! We'll work hours out later. Get to work!" You can hear the smile in his voice, and I laugh. Grabbing the tray, I head to the table and set out my supplies. Peeta carries a few bowls of dough over, and starts shaping them while I frost.

"So how's Rory coping?" He asks, and I notice what he is making. Cheese Buns. My mouth waters at the thought of them.

"He's alright. They all are positive he's coming home. Especially with him and Madge hooking up." He smirks at that.

"I've never seen Madge so…dreamy in her life. We had a few play dates when we were in diapers and toddling. She's really happy."

I return the grin, while focusing on the cupcake swirl. "She's definitely a good match for him. Kind of like you calming my fire, she does that to him already. And they only shared five minutes before this mess."

After I finish the cupcakes and Peeta finishes the cheese buns, we head up front covered in flour and frosting from hard work. We decide I should work from eleven in the morning to about five at night Tuesday through Saturday. I will receive my pay weekly on every Saturday. I thank them both profusely, and head off to my home.

Prim sits with Mother in the living room, and I let out a content squeal.

"What happened?" Prim asks with a grin.

"I got a job at the bakery! I will be frosting the cupcakes and icing some cookies. Hopefully baking bread also soon." Prim envelops me in a huge hug, and Mother joins us too.

"I'm proud of you Kat." My mom whispers and I freeze up. My mom used to always call me Kat when I was little, but stopped when my dad died.

I hug her close, and then leave for the bathroom. When I come back out, the television is flickering to life.

Let the 74th Hunger Games begin.

**Only 895 words, sorry. I'll try to keep updating twice a night, but with school starting again… You all know how crazy it can get. Like I said, Sunday will not have updates. Look on the bright side though, tomorrow will! This story is drawing closer to its end, and I'm still debating whether I will make a long epilogue or start a sequel. I think this one may end up a few chapters long for an epilogue. **_**PLEASE**__**NOTE THIS**_**: since this story has gone over amazingly, I will be starting another story when this one finishes. A summary/sneak peek will be tucked in a future author's note. I have several stories in fact, plus some ideas for one-shots. Alright, review and give me yo thoughts. (: **


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for the reviews! I've caught on to reading and reviewing trends, I definitely get the more of them from Friday to Sunday. So now I have something to always look forward to on weekends! As always, you all are amazing! I would guess in about the next ten chapters? this fanfic will come to an end. Only an estimate. I'm still not positive on how I want to end this, but I'm leaning more towards epilogue. I want to save all my special ideas for my other story, and that one is going to kick some ass. It will be a set of three, basically same ideas as the books, but my special twist! Alright, here is Chapter 21. Enjoy! **

Peeta bursts through the door, and exhales in relief. "I was sure I was going to miss the start and get arrested." I close the door, and take his coat off.

"Have a seat." We move to the couch, and I sit tight with him. Prim sits on the floor under Mother's legs, gripping her ankles tightly.

Claudius counts down the minute until the gong, and we all are tensed. I search the screen for Gale, and see him glancing towards the bow and arrows. Don't do it Gale. Just run. Madge needs you here, so does Rory and everyone else. The gong sounds, and he takes off running towards the woods. On his way, he manages to grab a bright orange backpack with some plastic. A knife whizzes by his head, and I gasp. He turns and shields himself with the back pack just in time to save himself from what could have been a fatal shot.

Before I can blink, he's sprinting off into the woods. The camera pans back to the bloodbath, and focuses in on Sara. She has picked up a sword, and seems dangerous with it. A quick swing to her right, and she decapitates the District Three girl. Sara's pale face is splattered with blood, and she grins evilly. My stomach churns at the look. Cato runs up beside her.

"_You seem pretty good with that sword. Any other weapons you good with? Or should I just get rid of you now?" He says in a condescending tone._

"_I'm decent with knives and spears. Swords are my strongest though." She replies firmly, holding her sword in a defensive position just in case._

"_Good. Want to join our alliance?" Cato asks, dropping his sword slightly. She nods, and spins to her left. The younger boy from District Four drops to the ground, his stomach spilling out. Cato grins wickedly with Sara._

I shudder at their actions. How could they so cruelly kill those kids? I knew Sara was evil, but I didn't expect her to be this cruel. She's been holding out on us. I suddenly worry more for Gale. Peeta's hand finds mine, and our fingers automatically twist together. I glance over to him, and his face is probably mirroring what mine looks like. I turn back, and the cannons have started sounding. Twelve kids have died all together. Twelve lives just ended in less than an hour. Twelve families are grieving and crying because their kids' lives got taken quickly. I send a silent prayer out to them all. When they show all the faces on our screen, I sigh in slight relief that Rue isn't one of them. She made it. I know she'll have to die for Gale to win, but I don't want to see the poor girl get slaughtered. The camera pans back to Gale, and I see him jogging still. They flip over to the Careers. Cato strolls over to where Clove, Marvel, Glimmer and the District Four girl Pearl stand. Sara is on his heels, wiping her sword clean of blood.

"_Guys, this is Sara. She's joining our alliance." Cato says casually._

"_What? She's from twelve, there is now way in hell she's joining us!" Glimmer squeaks, and Clove just glares at him. _

"_She's a good sword fighter. She'll be useful finding the Gale guy too. Just get over it." Glimmer huffs, and they all glance at the Cornucopia._

"_Should we start sorting through supplies?" Pearl suggests and they all nod._

The camera changes again, and I see Thresh sitting in the middle of the wheat field. He's munching on some of the crop, and going through the larger backpack he grabbed. A gallon of water, some apples, and a big bag of jerky is included for food and water. A sleeping bag is tucked in there also with a first aid trauma kit. The camera changes back to Gale, who is mounting a tree. The sunlight catches his shirt, illuminating the gold pin Madge wore on Reaping Day. I smile at that, Madge would be proud that he's wearing it.

He gets up at least twenty feet above the ground and calls it good. The orange pack is opened, and he finds some jerky, crackers, and a empty water bottle. A small first aid kit is buried at the bottom under a light sleeping bag. He smiles slightly at that, and finds something even better. Wire.

The odds are in his favor.

**Review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello all! I'm sorry that I updated so late, but hey! It's Monday, and I only missed Sunday's update! Read on guys!**

I decide to watch past the required time for the Hunger Games, and Peeta stays the night. Mother has Prim run over to let Mr. Mellark know, and she has to go on another house call for some measles. All the tributes are getting settled for the night, so I take the chance to hang with Peeta for a bit.

"Hey." I say with a small smile. I lie down, and pull him with me.

"Hi there. What do you think you're doing?" I grin mischievously in return.

"Just getting a bit of alone time in with my boyfriend." I respond before pulling his head down to mine. My arms wrap around his neck, and he kisses me sweetly. It lasts for probably five minutes before I'm gasping for air. We laugh slightly, and shift so I'm lying against his chest facing the television. "Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Gale will get a hold of the bow and arrows? Glimmer seems pretty tight with them."

"He'll find a way. Isn't he good with wire too though? He could make a snare for humans." I didn't think too much about that. I nod, and focus on the girl from eight. She's heading to the same tree Gale is in, and plops down to make a fire. Great, some dumb girl is going to get them both killed. Gale shifts in the tree, leaning over slightly to peek below him. She sets it ablaze quickly, and tries to warm up. The screen splits in half and shows the Careers heading quickly towards the smoke with wild grins. Cato crouches right behind her, and signals the others to wait.

"_Well, well. Look at who we found." The girl jumps and turns with a pleading look._

"_Please! I have a family at home! Little sisters watching! Please don't do this! Don't kill me in front of them!" Cato pauses, acting like he cares._

"_What are their names?" He asks, playing it up like he's worried._

"_Laurel and Belle." She whispers, shaking visibly. _

"_Well, Laurel and Belle," he spits, "goodbye from your sister!" She screams, tears streaming her face as she backs up. In one clean swipe, he slices open her stomach. She cries out in agony, and the Career pack laughs loudly. Gale is shown wincing, and burying himself down into the bag to avoid hearing as much as possible._

"_Let's go. We need to find the boy from twelve." Clove says eerily, and starts walking away. The rest follow, and leave the girl gasping for air through choked coughs of blood. Two minutes later, her cannon still hasn't gone off so we see Sara wander back._

_Sara smiles cruelly. "Well well, still holding on?" The girl's eyes show pleading and desperation. Her lips form out please, and Sara just laughs. "You won't get off that easy eight. We're going to enjoy this." She pulls out a small knife from her pocket, and makes small cuts across her wrists. The girl winces, and tears stream her face. "No smiles? Darn, guess we'll have to fix that." Her knife cuts into her cheeks, forming a curl of a smile. The girl cries out, and chokes on her own blood. The canon sounds, and Sara reaches into her pack to pull out a small bottle. She fills it with a tad of the girl's blood, and seals it. With a proud grin, she leaves. _

I gag at her taking the blood. Who the hell does that? Why does she need it? What the hell is going on right now! Peeta grimaces and I grab the remote. Flicking it off, I throw the wretched thing onto our small coffee table and curl into Peeta.

"Why?" I ask quietly, and he shakes his head.

"I don't know. I knew she was off her rocker, but I didn't know she was completely psychotic! I'm glad you didn't really piss her off…" Peeta looks down, and smiles slightly. "He survived the first night. That's an accomplishment at least."

"Yeah. First time in years since both of our tributes survived past the first night. Although I don't really want to admit Sara is from our district." I cringe at her name. How could she be the same girl who shook when I threatened her? I'm nervous Gale will have to go against her.

"It'll all be good. No worries, Gale will make it back to home." I smile, and lean up to kiss him. I taste a hint of blood, and back up.

"Why do you have a taste of blood Peeta?" I ask, and he grimaces now.

"I bit my cheek open when the girl from eight was attacked." I decide that a little blood won't hurt, and lean up to kiss him again. He lies back, and I straddle his lap. He pulls my head down to kiss me again, his tongue gliding against my lips lightly. I gasp and allow entrance, when I feel something hard poking me below.

"Oh!" I sit up, and scramble off his lap blushing furiously.

"Sorry…" He mumbles, pulling a pillow over. I laugh slightly, and snuggle back with him.

"I'm tired." I mumble, and he picks me up. Knowing exactly where he's taking me, I slump into his arms. He lays me gently on the bed, tucking blankets around me.

"Stay with me," I say quickly while reaching out and catching his wrist.

"Always." He replies, and I feel him crawl into bed with me, and capture me in his arms. A smile lifts my cheeks right as sleep over takes me.

**Sorry for it being late. Busy day again, so I didn't get a chance to load up on a long chapter in word length for you guys. Anyone seeing Detention this weekend in theaters? I sure want to! Let me know while you're dropping me a review! ;) **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hiii. So, found out some of you get a bit uncomfortable at intimacy. Sorry, I should have warned. It may not mention that in the books, but they are teenagers. Should not be too surprised(; Haha sorry to scar some of you. Alright, so as of 9:40 I have 140 reviews! THANK YOU SO MUCH. I never imagined ever getting this far, let alone successful. So, thank you to each and every one of you. You all are great! Another short chapter, sorry guys. :/ I promise way better updates later this week. I'm lousy lately, I know. Forgive me? Here is Chapter 23.**

I wake up to sunlight sneaking through the dusty windows. Warm arms hold me tightly, and I smile slightly. I glance across the room to see Prim snuggled under the covers, and Mother missing. Taking a big whiff of the air, it is obvious that she is already up. Quietly, I sneak out of Peeta's arms and he snuggles into the pillows more. I kiss his cheek softly, then slipping down the staircase towards our small, shabby kitchen.

"Morning Mother." I say, sitting in a chair.

She turns with a smile, sliding what looks like fried squirrel hash onto a plate. "Morning. Thought I would make breakfast since I was out late. Thought Peeta might enjoy this too."

"Thanks. I'm going to go wake the others then, don't want them to miss out while it is warm." With a nod in response, I jog upstairs and sit next to Prim.

"Wake up Primmy, breakfast is ready." Her hands rub her eyes, and she rolls into a sitting position.

"Smells good." Before I can respond, she races out of the room down stairs. I slip over to Peeta, and he lies facing the ceiling now. I bend down to kiss him lightly on the lips, and soon get a response.

He grins into my mouth, and I pull away with a smile. "That's a good way to wake up."

"Mom made some breakfast, it is squirrel hash." His eyes widen slightly.

"I've never had that before. Like I said before, all we have is stale toast for breakfast. If we are lucky, a bit of jam too." I grab his hand and pull him up.

"Well you ought to try it. We rarely have it, since potatoes are harder to grow in the woods." I drag him downstairs, revealing a Prim who is stuffing herself with the treat. I laugh out loud with Peeta, and she blushes slightly.

"What? It is good food!" She mumbles through bites. Peeta slides into a chair, and I follow him. Mom sets down plates in front of us, and I reach to shovel a mound in. Before it touches my lips, I hear a loud groan of pleasure. My head flies to my right, to reveal a satisfied looking Peeta.

"So…delicious…amazing…oh my gosh…" He eats slowly, savoring the taste. My eyes meet Prim's bright blue ones, and we start laughing. Like stomach bellowing laughter. He smirks, but doesn't stop eating his food. After gasping for air, I finally start eating.

"This is great. I've missed squirrel hash." After scrapping my plate clean, I see my family is full from a plate. There is enough for three more plates, and Peeta looks questioningly. I nod, and he quickly gets up to scoop more. Mother shakes her head and walks to the living room. Prim giggles, then stands up.

"I'm going to go visit Rory. Promised him yesterday."

"Might want to change before." I comment, and she looks down at her baggy sweats and t-shirt.

"Eh. I don't care." She grins, than heads for the door.

"Have fun!" Peeta calls out, and I grin.

"Enjoy work! Bye Mom!" She replies, and the door slams shut.

"Well, I got to change. Mustn't be late for work!" I joke, then jump up the stairs two at a time to the bedroom. I pull out some long, beat up khakis with an old blue shirt. I braid my hair back, and then skip back down the stairs.

"Ready?" I ask Peeta, and see him standing by the door holding a small container.

"Yup. Let's go. Bye Mrs. Everdeen! Thanks for breakfast!" Peeta says with a small smile.

"You're welcome Peeta. Come over anytime! But couch next time please?" We blush, and leave. My fingers find his, and he squeezes lightly with a smile. He swings them between us, and people turn to smile. I'm proud that the people here are so much more accepting of us then the town is. When we arrive at the bakery, Peeta pulls on an apron at the same time that I do.

"Dad! I got some breakfast for you!" Mr. Mellark appears wiping his hand.

"Smells good." When Peeta opens the container and slides it towards Mr. Mellark.

"Mrs. Everdeen made it this morning. Sent the extras with me for you. It's squirrel hash."

"That was thoughtful. You'll send my thanks later Katniss?" Mr. Mellark asks with a small smile. That smile reminds me so much of Peeta.

"Of course. Now I believe there are some cupcake orders to fill." They laugh, and we all set off towards the kitchen to work.

**Told you it was short. Sorry, will have more later on through the week. If not, you can always rely for good lengthy chapters on the weekends! Review if you want. **


	24. Chapter 24

**So sorry for no update yesterday everybody! My USB's drive overloaded, and I somehow managed to basically crash it and lose some chapters I was trying to prep for this story. Lost time, and chapters. :/ Guess what though? TOMORROW IS FRIDAY! Which means, updates this weekend! And maybe I can prepare more chapters so problems like this don't happen again… Your reviews are so entertaining! I can't always follow what you all want, but I can try to incorporate them! I have got a good master plan, so no worries. Here is Chapter 24.**

Peeta walks me home that night, and I catch the recap before they start streaming live on the Games. Nothing major had happened, a few tributes died. I see Gale and Rue are still safe, and let out a sigh in relief. He found a bit of water, and has chugged a bunch of it. The Careers are making their rounds again that night, and take down another two tributes. Fifteen tributes are now dead. Gale is strapped into the tree, when smoke is shown coming up on him. The trees blaze with flames, and I shriek aloud. Prim scrambles to my side, holding my hand tightly. Wake up Gale, is all I think. Wake up before you burn to death!

He coughs, and looks around sleepily. Another cloud of smoke covers his face, and his eyes widen in panic. With quick, practiced moves he undoes the belt and throws the sleeping bag into his back, and slides down the tree quickly. His legs stretch in long strides, pulling him out of the burning area within minutes. That is, until fireballs rain down hard. My hand is clenching Prim's tightly. This could be it. Gale could die right now. A ball skims his thigh, and he cries out. The steady steps falter momentarily, but he pulls through and runs as hard as he can. The fire stops, and he crouches to wretch fiercely. After a few moments of catching his breath, he squeezes his thigh tightly. His face grimaces, but he utters not a sound. Come on Haymitch, send him some medicine. Nothing comes, and Gale stands shakily. Taking small steps, he walks in search of water. It must be hours of walking, because soon they show him collapsing into…mud? Mud! That means water is near! Gale must come to the same revelation, because he suddenly starts crawling, following the wet mush. After about five minutes, a small creek comes into view. He grins like a fool then precedes to flops his face into the water. I laugh out loud with Prim, and then quiet down remembering where he was. His throat bounces several times, making his gulping obvious.

The screen flips over to the Careers, and I feel a bit better now knowing Gale is alright temporarily. Sara is chatting arrogantly with Clove about who is better with knives. There is no way Sara is better than Clove, but she seems to think she is. Clove gets up to pull a knife on her, but Sara is somehow quicker, and holds the sword against Clove's neck.

"_One twitch and your neck gets it." Sara snarls, and Clove grins maliciously, then her hands moves toward her pocket anyways. By this time, the rest of the Careers are watching. Sara follows through on her threat, and slices Clove's neck in one swipe. Marvel's eyes widen in surprise, and Cato smirks. Pearl has a matching look with Glimmer, disgust littering their faces. Clove's body slumps to the ground and cannon sounds off her death. Sara pulls that small bottle out again, putting a bit of Clove's blood in it also. _

Prim's face is hiding in my chest, and my hand rubs her back soothingly. I'm starting to worry why Sara is keeping all that blood. I glance towards Mother, who looks at me with her nose wrinkled. The interviewers will be here tomorrow then, since the pool is down to the final eight. I focus on the TV again, and see Sara stand proudly.

"_Well well, seems you are vicious 12." Cato says, and claps. "Just find your boy, and you'll be great." Sara grins in response, and then stands out of her crouch._

"_Shall we back away? We all know the Head Game Maker is itching to get the body out. I'm hungry too." She trots over to the food pile casually, jumping the intricate patterns to the pile and avoiding the land mines. The screen flips to Foxface, who's at the edge of the woods memorizing her steps. When Sara reaches the pile, she scurries away in another direction._

The TV sprouts a reminder, saying the required time is over. Mom quickly flicks it off, then stands.

"Well, I think it is time for bed. Tomorrow is probably going to be a busy day." Prim stands also, and pulls me up with her. We all file upstairs, and switch into our warm pajamas. I slip into bed, and wait for Prim to come in. She slides in next to me while Mother blows out the candles. I feel her small body squirm into my side, and I wrap my arms around her. Dreams overtake me with pictures of the Games.

_I sit on the Cornucopia, and see Gale running towards me. A tree branch is what it looks like at first, but really is a dead body, trips him. I see Rory's lifeless figure roll over. Sara comes charging through the woods and I shout loudly to Gale. "Run! RUN!" He ignores me, weeping over Rory's body. Sara's sword punctures his chest, and she pulls it out. Her tongue runs along the blade, licking up the loose droplets. She looks straight into my eyes, and sports a bloody red smile. I see Peeta chained at the bottom of the Cornucopia, and she rises up to start walking towards him. I scream loudly, and feel my body shaking._

"Katniss! KATNISS! Wake up!" I wake up startled, and see an anxious Peeta bent over me. Prim stands in the back ground looking awfully concerned.

"P-Peeta?" I stutter, and burst into tears. His arms envelop me, and my shoulders shake with sobs. "I-it was S-Sara. She k-killed G-gale and Rory, and was going to kill you." He whispers into my ear with calming words.

"It was just a dream. It's alright." I quiet down, and slowly start to function again.

"Why are you here?" I ask suddenly.

"The interviewers just got off the train, and Madge wanted me to come get you and Prim. She said something about you guys getting interviewed along with her and the Hawthorne's of course. I need to take you to her home." I nod, and stand. His hand holds might tightly, and Prim smiles.

"I'll just get changed then. Here Katniss." She hands me a dark green dress, similar to the blue one I wore on Reaping Day. I smile, and head behind the folding wall we have for changing.

"How's your morning been?" I ask Peeta while slipping off my pajamas.

"Busy." He laughs, and I smile to myself. "Made extra cookies and breads, the interviewers love our product."

"Oh! I didn't come in!" I say while slipping the dress up.

"We got up extra early, you wouldn't have known anyways. It's fine; we had a ton of your cookies from yesterday leftover." I slip around the wall, and turn.

"Zip me up?" I ask, turning my back to him. The floorboards creek as he moves towards me, zipping it up quickly and ties the ribbon into a small bow on my lower back. "Thanks."

"No problem. Shall we?" I nod, and grab a green hair ribbon from the small box, and tie it to my braid.

Prim stands by the door, in a pale yellow dress. "Oh! Little duck, you've grown a bit!" Though it hadn't been long since the Reaping, she had grown in height and filled out more. The dress was still a bit big, but not too big. Her golden locks were tied into a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon.

She smiles shyly, and Peeta pipes in. "I bet Rory is going to love that dress." This causes her cheeks to grow tomato red, and I laugh.

"Let's go get this thing over with." Peeta says and the three of us slip out the doors.

**Hey! That was a longer chapter guys! I'm impressed I pulled off a decent chapter. I know it wasn't my best one. Sorry about that… Well, you know what to do. Review? (: **


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm so sorry I keep letting you all down. School is busy again, and for any of you in America for school, school for us at least is ending in two and a half months. For my school, work is picking up, and we're all scrambling to fix the laziness of our grades. LOL. Soo, we are up to 162 reviews as of today. Almost 15,000 hits too! This has blown me away so much. Well, here is Chapter 25!**

Peeta walks Prim and I towards Madge's home. She sits on the small wooden bench out front, fidgeting with a navy blue eyelet dress.

"Hey Madge." I say, and she looks up.

"Hi guys. Glad you came; they are starting the interviews in ten with us. Caesar is in the living room with the Hawthorne crew. Your dresses are pretty."

Peeta's hand squeezes mine in a silent agreement, and I give a small smile. Prim runs up and hugs her, and Madge seems to calm a bit. Madge is like another sister to Prim. They've always had a special connection since Prim met her when we were younger. A peacekeeper steps outside stiffly looking at us.

"It's time. Follow me please." We all follow, winding our way to the fancy living room of the Justice Building. Hazelle has gathered the kids, all of them looking well. Rory runs over to Prim, giving her a quick kiss.

"You look beautiful Primmy." He says with a smile. She goes about three different shades of red, and mutters a 'thanks' in return. Peeta laughs loudly, causing Rory to join her blushing.

"Totally called that one." I hear him mutter, and I punch his arm lightly.

"Hi guys!" I see Caesar in front of us with a wide grin. "Shall we get the Everdeen girls done first?" Prim nods, and gives Rory another peck on the cheek. We walk over to the white sofa, and sit nicely down. The cameramen calls action, and Caesar grins at the camera.

"And we are back, with the Everdeen sisters, otherwise known as Gale's cousins! Hello Prim, and Katniss!"

I put on my best fake smile, and Prim chimes in lightly. "Hello Caesar!"

"So Gale is in the final eight, and the Games are coming to an end. What do you think of that?" Prim glances at me, and I take it as my cue to respond.

"It is really nice. We've been all a tight family for years, and it would be horrible to lose him. We're so thankful he's still alive."

"That's wonderful. Simply wonderful. Anything else you would like to say?"

Prim answers for herself before I can. "Gale will always find his way back home. Especially with Madge. He will do whatever he has to." I nod in agreement, and add my comment also.

"Gale will win." Caesar thanks us, and says Madge is coming up next.

"You ladies are wonderful. Thanks for your time." He kisses our hands with his utterly disgusting lips, and we head to towards Madge. She smiles timidly, then slides on the sofa. We wait another two minutes, and then Caesar is calling out pleasantries.

"Madge! It's great to finally meet the lady who holds Gale's heart. How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks Caesar." She smiles brightly, and glances towards us. Peeta gives her an encouraging nod.

"Madge, tell me, how did you two fall in love?" Caesar smiles slightly, and she blushes.

"We have known each other for many years actually, and I have been crushing on him for a long time. When he was reaped, I knew I had to tell him before it was too late. I didn't think he'd return them, but hey, look where we are now."

"Aww! Isn't that adorable? Tell me, will he come home?"

"He promised. Too many people are expecting him to keep to it. He has to come home."

"And come home he will. Thanks for your time Madge, we're looking forward to seeing you in the future."

"I am too Caesar." Madge gives a big grin, and the camera cuts.

"Alright! We're done! Thanks Madge." Caesar gives a thumbs up, and we're all escorted out. Madge stops when we get out of the building and turns.

"Do you really think he'll win? I mean, Sara has proven to be a mass murderer. And there is that Cato boy, and Thresh…"

"He'll be fine. I promise." I say, and grab her hand. Her eyes are glazed slightly, and she pulls me into a tight hug. I stiffen at first, but relax for Madge's sake. Prim smiles sadly, then runs off to Rory. Peeta sits on the bench and pretends to mind his own business. "It'll be okay Madge. He'll come back home, and move into Victor's Village with his family. He'll sneak out at night to see you, and probably even take you hunting. You'll live happily ever after. It'll all be great." She sniffs, and pulls back.

"Thanks. I really needed that."

"No problem. Sorry to cut this short, but Peeta and I got to get to work. We needed to go there right after the interviews."

Madge lets out a laugh. "Alright, have fun. Well, not too much fun. When Gale comes back, we should double." I cringe inside on the thought but nod to her. "Bye!" She says, turning towards her home. Peeta stands and I can't help but notice the movement of his biceps.

"Let's get to the bakery. Dad will tolerate us being late to a certain extent. Besides, he is supposed to be off today, since Rye is working." I groan at the remark of his brother.

"A day with Rye. This ought to be fun." I say sarcastically, and Peeta replies with a laugh.

"Because you two are sooo close." He jokes, and I can't help but crack a smile. I look down, and see my dress and nice shoes.

"Oh! Can I borrow a pair of clothes by chance?"

"Yeah, I think I have some draw string shorts, and an extra shirt. Besides, you look really hot in my clothes." I see him freeze, and go red. I snort and shove him lightly.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not. Do you not realize how incredibly cute you are in my clothes." I scowl at him, and he shrugs. "It's the truth. Believe it if you want." How would I be cute in clothes bigger than me? I shake the thought off, and we walk the rest of the way in silence. That is, until we hear a screech from someone I had thought we'd never see again.

"PEETA MELLARK." Peeta freezes up, and we turn to face her. The witch.

"Hi." He says quietly, staring at the ground.

"How could you betray me? And let your father kick me out of our home? How could you hold hands with that, that scum!" She squeals, and I flinch when she calls me scum.

"She is not the one who is scum here! YOU ARE." He yells, his face bright red with anger. She fumes also, and steps forward making a move with a dagger in hand. She cuts into his arm before we realize what's happened. I release Peeta's hand and pull the small knife out from under my skirt, and whip around her. My blade sits right at her throat.

"One move. It only takes one move and I will slice you like a pig." I whisper harshly, and Peeta's eyes widen.

"Get off of me filth! What I do to my son does not concern you! Go back to the Seam you whore!" She yells, thrashing in my arms. My knife lifts and slides down the side of her face. It isn't deep enough to kill, but it will leave a nasty scar. She cries out, and starts shaking. A small puddle forms at her feet and mine, causing my nose to wrinkle in disgust.

Peeta actually smirks at me. I mouth 'I'm sorry.' He shakes his head, and talks loudly.

"You aren't my mother. You're just a horrible woman who tricked my dad into marrying you after my real mom died. You will never be my mother. Rot in hell." I wipe my knife on the side of her shirt, and walk towards Peeta. She scampers away with tears mixing in the blood on her face, wet marks streaking her khaki pants darkly. I rush over towards Peeta and grab his arm.

"You're going to need stitches." I say, desperately pushing the bile that has risen in my throat back down. My hands reach the bottom of his shirt, and rip a long strip off. I make a small tourniquet above the cut to slow the bleeding, and then lead him to the bakery. Mr. Mellark looks up when the front door's bell rings.

"What happened?" He says worriedly while standing to walk over.

"Violetta." Peeta responds through gritted teeth. "No worries though, Katniss decorated her face a bit. Hope you don't mind." Mr. Mellark turns to me with a look of curiosity, and I raise my finger to trail down the right side of my face. He smirks, and then speaks up.

"Should I send Rye to get your mother?" I ponder for a moment, but the front door bell rings before I respond. Prim stands, with shock on her face.

"What happened?" She asks, then runs up to Peeta and immediately starts looking at the cut.

"His mom got a little dagger happy." I respond, and he scowls.

"That bitch is not my mother." Peeta says loudly, his voice shaking with anger.

"I will go fetch my medic bag; mom is on a house call. Give me five minutes." She sprints out the door, and I get Peeta to sit on a stool. Mr. Mellark flips the sign to say 'on break' so nobody comes in to this mess. Prim runs back in by three minutes, which must be hard since it would usually need five minutes to run here.

"I need him to lie down on something; it will be easier for me to stitch up." Prim says while standing him. Mr. Mellark leads them to the extra room where a decent sized table lies, deserted. Prim throws a clean brown sheet across the table, and has Peeta lie down. I slide a chair next to him and hold his hand tightly. "Peeta, I'm really sorry but I don't have anything for pain killers. This is probably going to hurt a lot." He nods his face turning towards me. "Katniss, distract him. It will take another minute before I can start stitching."

"So, was it me or was Caesar sitting in District 12 a ridiculous look?" He laughs, then his face contorts in pain. "Hang in there Peeta, you're doing great." I ramble about the woods, and Prim looks up. She gives me a slight nod, a flash of guilt across her face. "Prim is going to start stitching, just squeeze my hand, alright?"

"I need you to hold his arm in place Katniss." There is no way I can fit over by Prim regardless of how skinny I am. I climb onto the table and sit on his chest, holding his arm.

Prim's nimble fingers slide the needle through, and he cries out in pain. I wince, and try to calm him. It's a long cut, so I know he'll be in a good chunk of pain. When she starts to slide the needle through the other side, I do the only thing that will distract him. I lean down and press my lips to his, and feel him relax. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Prim start to speed up while he is distracted. Peeta stays quiet, stiffening only slightly when she pushes the needle through. My lips rub his gently, and his tongue slides across my lower lip slightly. I allow entrance, though I'm embarrassed I'm doing this in front of my sister and his dad.

Prim coughs loudly. "Alright, I'm done." I laugh slightly, and sit up. My legs slide to the side and slip towards the ground. Peeta is bright red with embarrassment, mine must be matching too. Prim pulls out salve to ward off infection then wraps gauze around the stitches.

"You're good Peeta." He thanks Prim, and she smiles. "Now, getting to why I came, I needed to pick up a loaf of bread for the Hawthornes. Rory gave me some coins for it…" Mr. Mellark waves her off.

"Nonsense. Which bread?" He responds, escorting Prim back to the front.

Rye pops in the door. "Never liked that woman. How lovely does her face look now?" I motion where I cut, and he grins evilly. "She deserved it." With that, he heads back to the ovens, and starts baking again.

"Nice distraction method." Peeta says with a sheepish smile.

"Shut up. It was all I could think of at the time." We both laugh, and leave the room. Running upstairs, Peeta throws a change of clothes for me. I change in the bathroom then head back downstairs to say by to Prim. As I grab my apron, I notice something different on the front under the logo. All the Mellark's have embroidered aprons with their name and specialty, but I had always had the plain one. Now on the front, I have my own special one. _Katniss Everdeen: Pastry Specialist. _My eyes water slightly, and I hear Mr. Mellark walk up next to me.

"Now you're really a part of the Mellark Bakery staff, and family." He gives a comforting smile, and I return it gratefully.

"Thank you."

**HOLY CROW. 2,246 words. Longest chapter I have ever written, and it took me two days to fit everything I wanted in it. So I am sorry for no update again on Friday and Saturday. I might have to switch to every other day updates, which I don't want to do, but grades are more important. Alright? Love you all! And Peeta's step witch, Violetta, is gone! YAY. I felt like she was a loose end, waiting to be tied for good. Final days in the Games next. REVIEW.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26! Finale Part One!**

I end up staying over at the Mellark's to watch the Games from late closing on the bakery. We all head upstairs quietly and plunk onto the sofas. The anthem plays, and the recap plays. Apparently today, Gale dropped a tracker jacker nest on the Careers, killing both Glimmer and Pearl. He was stung, but didn't get knocked out somehow. Gale managed to grab a bow and some arrows from Glimmer's body before taking off. He stumbled upon Rue, who helped him find the nest originally. She healed the stings, and they formed an alliance. The Careers got medicine for their stings as gifts, then set off to hunt down someone. They left the District Three tribute there, and Gale and Rue go spy on their camp to blow up the food. Foxface go through intricate steps to the pile, showing them that there are mines buried all around the pile. When she darts off, he blows the pile up quickly. This causes them both to go partially deaf, and they manage to get away before angry Careers return. Cato blames the District Three boy, snaps his neck and they pack up for a long hunting session.

Marvel, Sara, and Cato head to the woods, opposite of where Gale and Rue are safely tucked away at. The camera flips to Foxface, who's sitting under a bush. A bit of her pack sticks out in neon coloring, giving her hiding spot away. A map pops up showing the Careers nearing the spot, and Marvel can tell too. They tiptoe into the clearing, and Marvel holds up his hand. Stepping forward quietly, his arm makes precise movements to stab her leg. Foxface lets out a glass breaking scream, thrashing hardly. Sara and Cato sit down, and snack on some peanuts while laughing. Marvel drags her up to the tree, and pulls out some knives.

"_See these five? I am not killing you with all of them, they're going to pin you." He sticks a longer knife through the extra material of her jacket, pinning her arm to the tree securely. She doesn't utter a peep, but tears stream her face. He proceeds to pin the rest of her body to the tree, having one last knife to spare. "No noise huh? Tell you what, you scream, and I'll kill you quickly." Foxface lets it loose, and they all laugh harshly._

"_Just kidding." He says, then slices across her stomach. She coughs blood immediately, and he slowly carves her body in intricate designs while she lives on. After what seems like hours, she chokes on her own blood and dies. A cannon sounds marking her leave. As if on cue, Sara stands and marches towards her, pulling out her handy bottle of blood. She gets some of Foxface's, and then secures the cap back in place. _

I shudder, and lean into Peeta's side. His arm wraps around me automatically, and we both stare at the screen still.

"_Well, it is down to six, half of them being us. We should probably split up." Marvel says casually. _

"_I am staying with Sara." Cato says, and exchanges a smirk with her. They both look at Marvel, who backs up slowly. "And that makes you the enemy, doesn't it Marvel?" _

_Before he utters another word, Sara slashes her sword through his legs. He lets out a yell, and Cato quickly silences him with a swift cut through the head. _

"_Nice job partner." Cato says to Sara, whose response is a grin. His cannon booms and they head off towards their camp. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day." They walk off together, and the camera flips to Thresh, who's silently eating grains again. It flips again to Gale, who's sitting in the tree together._

"_What's Twelve like?" Rue asks while snacking on some groosling meat._

"_Dreary." He replies with a snort. "Everything is covered in coal dust, people are dying of starvation. Just dreary."_

"_What about that girl you mentioned, Madge is it?" She asks with a small smile._

"_I had no idea she loved me until I was pulled, it was kind of a wakeup call. I fell for her right then when she came to say goodbye." They both smile. "What is Eleven like?" _

"_We work all day, and it's horrible. People starve too, there are fields everywhere. Guarded heavily with peacekeepers all day long." She responds nonchalantly, and leans back._

"_Tired?" Gale asks quietly. Rue nods and yawns, and they get in the sleeping bag together. He holds her close to him, and she snuggles tightly. _

The television flicks off, and I quickly stand. "I'm heading home." I say quickly, and then run down the stairs. I don't even know why I'm running, I just feel really sick. Regardless of if Gale is in love with Madge, he's in an arena trying to stay alive while I'm having a care free time with Peeta. I run out into the rain, which is pouring in bucketfuls. I hear heavy steps, and take off running. Peeta is calling out my name, but I ignore him. All I can think is how horrible of a person I am. My feet take me to the meeting spot I have with Gale in the woods, and I collapse. The rain drips from my face as I lay in the dirt. I've got to quit enjoying time until Gale gets back. I decide I will keep working, but no more laughing, or smiles. Old Katniss. I must sit out for hours in the dark, because soon morning is shining. I drag myself back home, and see Prim sitting on the stool looking concerned. She takes one look, then gets up.

"I'll go run to tell Peeta you can't make it in today." Before she has a chance to leave, the anthem plays, and the television turns on. This only happens when a feast begins. Or when the end is beginning. Since they announced last night that there was a feast, I lean in. Prim's fingers find my hand, and I see Rory race through the door.

"I can't watch with mom and everyone. It's too stressful."He whispers, and Prim motions for him to sit with her. She gives him a kiss on the cheek, and they turn towards the television. Suddenly Claudius' voice booms through the arena.

"_Attention tributes! A feast will be held in ten minutes! Something you may want will be in a pack with your number on it. Optional to attend, but all items will blow up after ten minutes! May the odds be ever in your favor!" The screen shows Sara and Clove, who agree to go to the feast. They immediately start walking towards the Cornucopia. They flip to Thresh, who's also packing up his stuff and heading out of the fields. The camera finally rests on Gale and Rue._

"_Do you think it is something you really need?" Gale asks Rue. _

"_No. I have my slingshot and all I need. What about you?" She replies._

" _Nope. Got wire and my bow. I'm set." He nods in confirmation, looking back at her._

"_I say we just wait it out. Someone is bound to die at the feast, then we make our move." Rue says quietly, looking into his eyes for confirmation._

"_We can. Maybe we should move closer to the Cornucopia to keep an eye out though. Whoever is left probably will camp out there." Gale responds, and grabs his bag._

"_Let's move then, we have to hurry." They round their supplies, and Gale gets down out of the tree. Rue starts hopping through the tree line quietly. Gale jogs under the trees just as fast. Within seven minutes, they have reached the edge of the trees, and Gale hoists himself back into the tree. A bonging sound rings out loudly. Thresh, Cato, and Sara race out of their hiding spots._

_Let the feast begin._

**WOAH. Only five tributes left! What's going to happen in the next chapter? :3 Review lovely reviewers! **


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi! So I'm doing special shout outs to some reviewers that give some great advice and entertaining reviews!**

**SilverNight92- You've reviewed a couple+ times, and they're always amazing! I read your stories too, and they are really wonderful!**

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**.123- Your name has popped up a good chunk of times too! Your tips and pointing out some weaker parts always help me a lot. Thank you so much!**

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**Pamelamellark- Your reviews have also helped me a lot, and I try to work off of a lot of them. Thank you heaps! **

**I just saw this person's PenName for a story alert, and have to tell them if they read this, I LOVE YOUR PENNAME. (fuckaerinlovesthg) teehee!**

**Alright, now here is what you've been waiting for… THE FINALE!**

I lean in towards the television in anticipation, seeing Cato run at Thresh. He and Sara must have planned this, because she runs towards the bags. Cato tackles Thresh to the ground, and a wrestling match begins. Thresh can actually hold his own well, and knocks around the Career a lot. They show Sara just in the corner, opening the small bag for her that has a bright yellow liquid held in a vial. It sits in another bottle similar to the one she filled with blood. A wicked grin passes her face. Prim sucks in air tightly.

"Poison." She murmurs, and snuggles into Rory.

Cato manages to get a hold around Thresh, and pulls out a dagger. They wrestle still, and the camera focuses on Sara, who's pouring blood into the other bottle, and dumps the poison in also. Cato hits Thresh harshly in the head with the butt of the dagger, causing him to lose his control. Cato takes his only chance and stabs Thresh in the neck. Blood sprays out right as the cannon booms. The screen splits in two, showing a triumphant Cato and Rue whimpering quietly in Gale's arms. Sara is walking toward Cato, holding the bottles.

"_Care to celebrate Cato?" She grins, taking a sip of her bottle. He looks at the bottle suspiciously, but picks his up._

"_Why not?" He responds with a laugh. They clink their bottles of blood, and take sips. _Claudius makes another announcement.

"_Attention tributes! There has been a small game change. Since it is rare to have the last four tributes to be in two alliances, we've decided that if both of one survive, they can both be crowned victors. Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"_

Gale turns toward Rue, and they smile.

"_We could win." She whispers. He smiles widely, and pulls her into a hug. _

Right as they hug, another cannon sounds off. The camera quickly flips to Cato, who is slumping toward the ground. Blood runs out of his mouth. I hear Rory gag.

"I think I'm going to be sick." He says quickly, and runs to the bathroom. Did they really drink blood from other tributes? There must be some rule against that. Sara is shown smiling widely, and strides up to the Cornucopia. She lets her weight sag against the side, and yells loudly.

"_I will find you both! And you will die!"_ She lets out a laugh. A laugh of someone who is psychotic. I cringe, and pray for Gale to let off an arrow. Rory runs back in the room, looking green.

"You okay Rory?" He nods, quickly turning himself towards the television. I follow his lead, and look back to see Gale with a arrow notched and aimed towards Sara.

"_Rue, please turn round. Don't watch." She nods and turns around, covering her ears. He draws the string back, and releases. It misses her heart, and instead lodges into her leg._

"_Oh! The boy lives! Come out come out wherever you are Gale!" Sara squeals, and pulls the arrow out of her leg. He drops out of the tree. "Hello lover boy." She growls, pulling out her sword._

"_This is going to end Sara. Rue is going to go home, and so am I." She laughs loudly._

"_Like I would let you. You broke my heart, and now, it's time to break little Madge's heart." Sara breaks into a sprint towards Gale. Must be on an adrenaline rush to run with that leg wound. Before I can blink, Gale has another arrow loaded and shot straight into her heart. She coughed up blood._

"_I never loved you anyways. Seam trash." She chokes out quietly, then her cannon booms._

_He looks angry, but turns away. "Rue! We did it!" The little girl scurries down the tree, running to jump into Gale's waiting arms. "We're going home." They laugh together, Rue's face streaking with happy tears. After ten minutes, they get worried._

"_Gale, why haven't they picked us up yet?" Rue whispers, sinking to the ground._

"_I don't know Rue. I don't know."_

"_Attention tributes! The rule change earlier has been…well, revoked. There can only be one victor. Good luck!" Gale's face pales and Rue starts bawling._

"_Gale, you have to go home! You have a family, a girl. So many are depending on you." Rue whispers, clutching his hand in hers._

"_I can't kill you! I won't! You have just as much for a family! Rue, you have to go home. My family will understand. So will Madge." He replies hoarsely. _

"_I won't leave without you Gale." Rue glances around, and sees something that interests her. She runs straight for a Nightlock bush and pulls out two handfuls. "Have these." She says quietly, holding out a handful for him._

Little did I know while watching that tears were streaming down my face. Rory's lips are quivering, and Prim is bawling into his shoulder. I hold them both into my side, praying for them to both get out.

"_Rue, these are poisonous. We can't eat them." Gale whispers, a tear escaping his eye._

"_I know. It's our way out. If we both can't survive, then we'll die. Together." Tears are falling rapidly down her face, and he accepts the berries. He pulls her into a tight hug. "I love you like a brother Gale." Rue says quietly. _

"_Love you like a sister Rue." With a kiss on her head, they hold each other's hand. They raise their other hands up to their mouths. Before the berries fall in, a fire bomb flies out of nowhere. It hits Rue, killing her instantly. The berries in Gale's hand fall out of his hands, and he lets out a scream._

I scream out too, and Prim starts wailing. Rory sits in a catatonic state. "No! No!" I cry out. They just killed an innocent girl. A girl who pulled a handful of berries to survive with a brotherly tribute was killed. A sob leaves my lips, and Gale is lifted out of the arena. It flips to a smirking snow.

"_Congratulations Gale Hawthorne, Victor of the 74__th__ Annual Hunger Games!" _The television cuts off, and I pull in Prim and Rory. They shake with sobs, and I try to stay brave.

Rory manages to whimper out, "he's coming back home."

"He'll never be the same though." Prim whispers back.

"It'll be okay." I repeat over and over, until we all fall asleep tight in each other's arms.

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE. PLEASE READ.**

**I almost cried writing this. I came up with this idea around Chapter 3ish. It has been a waiting time bomb for me to finally post this. By the way, this is the third to last chapter for this story. This is the start of what will be the Rebellion. There is going to be a sequel, I promise you that. I think the next one will be in a different point of view, because in a way, Katniss and Peeta's story is over mostly. Or at least it will be by the end of this story. Madge and Gale's is going to begin. With that being said, leave a review in honor of Rue's death. ): **


	28. Chapter 28

**To be exact…**

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**I LOVE YOU ALL. I was expecting a few more reviews from the last chapter, but oh well(: Here is 27!**

Mother shakes my shoulder, and I awake in a start. My cheeks pinch from tears drying on them. Prim's head is nestled in Rory's neck, and his arms are tight around her. I smile slightly at their innocence.

"Hey. It's mid-afternoon, thought you might want to be woken for your shift." Mom whispers, and I nod. "Shall I wake Rory and Prim? The Hawthornes are coming over to celebrate with us for dinner."

"You probably should. What time are they coming?" I respond quietly.

"In about four hours, Peeta is waiting at the door for you." I get up quickly, straightening my clothes. Mud is caked into them from the woods, and smelly.

"Can you tell him I'll be out in five minutes?" I reply heading to the stairs.

"Yeah. Just hurry Katniss." I nod and run the stairs, pulling off my clothes. I take a quick cold shower to wash of the sorrow of yesterday. Racing to the dresser, I pull on a light brown shirt with long khakis. My feet are stuffed into my shoes, and run down with a hair tie in hand to braid on the way to the bakery.

Being so absorbed in hurrying, I run face first into Peeta's chest.

"Oof!" I huff, and laugh.

"Well hello to you too." Peeta says with a grin. He leans down to give me a quick peck.

"Hi. Shall we go?" A brisk nod is his response and we leave the house. "Listen, I'm sorry about yesterday. I just had a…snap."

"I understand." He replies casually. "Everybody has bad days." Peeta never fails to amaze me. Had he been some other guy, he probably would have been a jerk about me being upset. I stop him to give a sweet kiss.

"Thank you." I whisper into his lips.

"For what?" He responds.

"For being you. Always understanding. I can be a bitch to you, and you'll always forgive me. So thanks." I give him another kiss then start walking again. I see him smile out of the corner of my mind, leading to my own lips tugging upwards. My finger tangle into his large calloused ones.

"I figured since Gale won, we could throw a small party for him? I'm working on a cake right now, it's cooling." Peeta says happily.

"Actually, you could come over tonight. We're having dinner with the Hawthornes in celebration. We could invite Madge too."

"Why not? You could help me decorate the cake. Since we dropped our prices on the baked goods, more people can afford the product. Therefore we can spare things like cakes. We're handing out free cookies tomorrow."

"Sounds good." I reply with a smile. "I have to be home in four hours."

"Alright. We better hurry then, have a lot to do!" We break into a sprint, and I pull my fingers from his.

"Last one to the bakery is a burnt loaf!" I yell, and run quickly. Peeta tries to keep up, but stumbles slightly. I let out a peal of laughter, and people turn to smile at us. I run in the front door of the bakery, and turn back to see Peeta five steps behind.

"I win!" I say smugly, and he gives a mischievous smile in return. He leans in to kiss me passionately. I try to pull back, but melt into his embrace.

"Nope. I win." He mumbles, and darts back to the back room. I turn to see Rye casually leaning against the front counter with a smirk.

"Have fun?" He says, with hidden laughter in his voice.

"Shut up Rye." I grumble before heading back into the kitchen. He bellows out laughter, and the blood rushes to my face.

Peeta is pulling out the cake layers, and I grab the icing bags with the fondant too. "How we decorating the cake boss?" I ask sarcastically, and he lets out a laugh. A paper is shoved into my hands, and I look over the design. Simple pearls line the layers, ribbon looking decorations hanging lightly down the sides.

"You sure you want to do pearls? Maybe we should make mockingjays." I say, imagining the pin worked into the cake. Peeta stops short and glances towards me.

"Never thought of putting in mockingjays. That is smart, we should do that." He swipes the paper out of my hands, making quick adjustments to the cake. I grin with success, and pull out the edible gold sugar dust. He carefully slabs on a light strawberry filling in between two cake layers, and frosts over them to hold it together. I stretch the fondant, and smooth it carefully over the cake. With quick measured movements, the two stack cake is frosted and has fondant placed perfectly. Peeta works on forming the pins, while I fold some fondant into delicate black ribbons. They drape perfectly, making me smile in satisfaction.

Peeta's arms go around my waist, and I lean back. "You're getting a lot better. Nice work Kat." He says with a tinge of proud on his words.

"Thanks." I respond, then shake him off.

"We got to work quickly! How we going to tell Madge?"

"We could invite her right after we finish." Rye pops his head in.

"Hey, so I've got a date tonight…and I forgot to mention that. Mind covering for me? Business is slow today anyways." He gives a hopeful smile.

"I don't know…" Peeta says seriously. My cheeks twitch, and I press down the urge to smile.

"Peetapoo! Don't make me pull out the embarrassing stories for Katniss." He taunts, and I see Peeta's face pale.

"Have fun." He says quickly, and I laugh loudly.

"I can cover the front; the rest of the cake is your expertise. We closing at seven tonight?" Peeta nods and gets back to work.

"We don't need to bake anymore bread, whatever is in stock now is what we are selling. After the cake I'll make up the cookie dough for tomorrow, and then help up front. Okay?" I smile in response, and head up to the front. Just as I sit on the stool, the door bell rings.

"Welcome to Mellark's Bakery, how can I help you?" I say automatically before looking. A particular long blonde hair girl smiles. "Oh, hi Madge. What do you need?"

"A few cookies. Please." She smiles, and I grab a bag.

"Which ones?"

"Surprise me." She says, grinning the whole time.

"Oh! Before I forget, want to come over for dinner? We're celebrating Gale's…success. Figured you may want to join?"

"I'd love to! I have something special to bring for a kids drink too, and adults. No worries on drinks." She says with a smile.

"Alright! Dinner is at seven."

"Okay, I got to go. Mother was craving cookies. See you later! Bye Peeta!" She calls out, and gets a muffled bye in response.

Time flies, and before we know it, it is time to close the bakery and head over to my home. Peeta boxes the small cake delicately. I pull the shades down and put out the fires in the ovens. After quickly closing, we head down to home. The noise from our house is obvious before it is in sight, and other houses boom with celebration too. I smile at that, proud of Gale. My mind flickers to Rue, causing my smile to drop. I hurry to the house, dragging Peeta along. Rory and Prim are sitting against the side of the fence in a patch of replanted Primroses our father had put in years ago.

"Hi guys." Peeta calls out lightly, and they straighten out of their embrace.

"Hello. Oh! Peeta! Did you and Katniss make a cake?" Prim says excitedly.

"Yup! A special one too. Even Katniss hasn't seen the final product." He gives a wink, and Rory's lips tug slightly.

"Well it will go lovely with Madge's special treat. Hazelle and Posy are bombing her with more questions inside, better save her." Prim says with a smile.

I nod, and we walk inside hand in hand. "Katniss!" Posy shrieks, and plows into my legs.

"Hey Posy. How's my little girl?" I say lovingly, and pick her up into my arms. She kisses my cheek.

"Great! Galey is coming home!" She squeals with happiness.

"He is! I can't wait for him either Posy. I'm sure Madge can't either also." I wink at her, and she lets out a nervous laugh.

"Who's that?" Posy asks curiously, looking at Peeta.

"That's Peeta. He's my special friend." I say with a smile.

"Like Prim is Rory's special friend?" She responds, her eyes lingering on Peeta. He gives a small wave.

"Just like Rory and Prim." She squirms out of my arms, and walks towards him. Peeta crouches to her level, and opens the cake box. He reveals a small cookie and holds it out.

"You like cookies?" He asks, and I glance at its design. Light pink swirls cloud through it. She lets out a high pitched squeal.

"I love cookies! Pink favorite color!" Posy takes the cookie and gobbles it down. Peeta and I laugh. She then crushes herself into his arms. "I like you." Posy says happily with a big sigh. I notice the room is quiet, and see Hazelle, Madge, and Mother smiling at them.

"Shall we eat?" I ask, and Mom looks at me.

"Oh! Sure!" She pulls out a turkey I hadn't caught out of the oven.

"Did Rory get that?" I ask, with amazement lacing in my question.

"Yup, I sure did!" Rory says while puffing his chest with pride. I grin, and we all sit down in the living room since the table is too small. Laughter floats through the house, and the only thing missing is Gale. That isn't so bad though, since he's coming home tomorrow. We watch the television when it comes on for Gale's recap. Peeta serves the cake after the program, and Hazelle splits the champagne Madge brought with Mother. She also brought this special drink called sparkling apple cider for us kids. Everyone decides to stay the night since the Mom's are a bit tipsy. They get the room upstairs, and we all crash downstairs in piles of blankets together. Madge sleeps with Posy cuddled into her side, Peeta and I together, and Rory and Prim at a respectable distance. Vick sleeps between the two for the extra measure, winking at me. Peeta laughs and Rory glares at the two.

Gale is coming home tomorrow. The Hawthornes are moving into Victor's Village. We won't have many more night like this, if we ever do again. Gale won't have to work in the mines; they'll all have full bellies. Will he hunt with me still? Or will he be too busy with Madge and his new life? I worry at the thought, and Peeta must notice.

"Hey." He whispers, turning me towards him. "Whatever you're stressing about, don't. It will all work out." He brushes my hair back, and kisses my temple. I smile slightly, and scoot into his form. His arm sneaks around my waist, rubbing comfortable circles in my back. "I love you." He murmurs sleepily into my ear.

"Love you too." I whisper back quietly.

.0.0.0.

I wake up to the smell of melted goat cheese and fresh bread, causing my mouth to water. I sit up and see Posy shaking Madge awake, Rory is drooling, and Prim is watching him affectionately. I turn to the kitchen to see Peeta baking with the Moms. I laugh slightly, and notice Vick hanging out at the table watching them.

Posy bounces over to Hazelle, who gives her a small pot and wooden spoon. I cringe at what is to happen, and cover my ears. Posy creeps next to Madge and Rory, and raises the spoon above the pot. She slams down with all her force, screeching loudly.

"WAKE UP SLEEP HEADS!" Rory sits up quickly, hitting the side of the coffee table in the process. Madge jumps up, and looks around nervously. Posy laughs loudly, and I join her with Peeta.

"Breakfast is served." Peeta announces, carrying a plate of cheese buns. I dash to the plate, snatching one before anyone else moves.

"Hungry much?" Madge teases and I blush. I bite into the cheesy deliciousness while barely holding back the groan of satisfaction.

"That's hot." Peeta says out loud; everyone looks at him, and he goes bright red. "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud."

Everyone laughs, and I lean in to kiss him lightly. "Don't worry; you're cute when you're red."

He licks his lips where a bit of the goat cheese I was eating came off. My stomach tingles at the sight. He grins, and helps carry out the rest of the food. We are treated with turkey bacon, eggs, and the cheese buns. Everyone digs in, and I can say it has been a decent amount of time since everyone was with a full belly. Gale's last interview comes on, and basically is about seeing Madge finally and his family. He's due to come in within two hours, and the Hawthornes have to pack. We see them off, and Peeta has to head off to the bakery. I get a late start for Gale's arrival. Peeta gives me a chaste kiss goodbye and heads home. Prim pulls on the blouse and skirt she wore at the Reaping, showing it to Madge.

"I think I have some of my older clothes I don't wear often. Do you guys want them?" Prim looks at me as if to say 'Please?' I nod, and she squeals.

"Well, lets go over now, You can use some for the train greeting. Mom waves goodbye, and we race to Madge's home. Prim and I barely get to absorb the luxury of her home before she drags us to her room. She pulls out a big box from her closet, and opens it.

"Ahh, perfect." She says to herself, and tosses Prim a light blue dress, ending just above the knees. Delicate flowers are sewn into it. Prim gives a smile in thanks, and changes into it. Madge tosses me a emerald green strapless dress that comes below my knees slightly, and some flats in black. We tie our hair back just as the whistle of an arriving train sounds. Madge pulls on her white dress, and lets her hair fall down her back freely.

"Let's go!" Prim says, dragging us to the station. We get to the front just as the doors open. He steps out, and sees his family. They all clobber him, and tears visibly streak all their faces. Prim and I step up next, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so glad you came home. We've missed you." I say when we pull back. His eyes look into mine, and what I see scares me. Hurt, sadness, anger, and hopelessness floats in the deep grey. His lips are turned up slightly. "Woods tomorrow morning." I say quietly, and he nods. I motion towards Madge, who stands at the stairs fidgeting with her dress. His eyes change to happiness and love instantly, and I smile. Prim and I back away as Madge flings herself into his arms, crying loudly. Their mouths collide passionately, and cameras click away quickly.

"I love you Madge." I hear him say, and she cries harder.

"I love you too Gale." She responds, and leans in for another kiss. Everyone cheers loudly, and reporters comment on the couple.

He's finally home. Broken, but he's home.

And that's all that matters for now.

**I'm so sorry about the delayed update. You have no idea. I've been having writer's block on how to put what I wanted to do to words. Anyways, second to last chapter everyone..! Thanks so much, please review.**


	29. Chapter 29

**PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY, IMPORTANT A/N: I am so sorry for the week-late update everyone! So, I had thought I lost my jump drive, which by the way contains every chapter for this story and others and this update. I finally found it today, and finished this up in class. I am terribly sorry to hold off the ending for all of you. Alright, you can skip the next part and go to the actual chapter now. SORRY AGAIN.**

**Aww! Some of you are so sweet(: I got a anonymous reader who didn't want Madge and Gale together. SORRY, bug influence. Guess what? I've laid out a plan for the sequel! I'm going to post it soon, but I have decided those updates will run every other day. High school life is just too busy to keep up with. (Blame my damn teachers..!) So, here is the ending! I can't wait to start the sequel, you have no idea! SO EXCITED. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING! I love each and every single one of you random strangers! ;) This is the last chapter. We just cleared 200 reviews, and a ton of hits. Thanks for your support, and again sorry for the late update!**

We walk with Gale to his new home in Victor's Village with smiles and floods of words. Prim bounces around with Rory, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the different flowers and homes. The peacekeeper in front walks stiffly as if there is a stick up his ass. I snort out loud, but cover it up with a cough. Posy is clutching my fingers while filling the space between Gale and I. Madge holds onto his free hand with a look of content. Posy acts as if he never just went into the games, and in the end watched a little girl get blown up in front of him. She instead fills him in with everything he has missed.

"We ate cake last night Galey! It was so good too!" That seems to catch his full attention.

"How?" he stutters while looking me in the eye, "we could never afford cake. Well until now." Madge leans in front of him to give me a grin.

"Peeta hired me at the bakery. Violetta was kicked out for good, and they needed another set of hands since his older brother isn't working for them much anymore. Rory has been doing great with hunting, so he does a bit extra while I work. The cake was a specialty for celebration." He looks at Rory quickly, looking proud of his younger brother.

"It had your pin on it too Galey!" Posy says with a cheeky grin. I nod, and the peacekeeper brings to a stop in front of a mini-mansion sized home. A wide white deck stretches around the front with careful wood designs carved in the railing. A moderate sized swing hangs under the shade of the roof. The house is painted in a light green, covered in purple flowers that snake up the trellis on the sides of the walls. Everyone looks at it in astonishment.

"This is your new home Mr. Hawthorne. All your things are already in the home. Congratulations on your victory." The peacekeeper says tightly, handing him a pair of skeleton keys. Gale's face pales a lot when 'victory' is mentioned. I see Madge squeeze his hand in a relaxing way. He slowly moves up the steps to the door, slipping in the key. It opens with an inaudible click, and a fresh pine smell wafts out. Just as his feet begin to touch the floor of the hallway, Posy flies out of my grasp and races inside.

"WE'RE RICH!" I hear her squeal, and Hazelle frowns. Madge even chuckles a bit at the remark and we all make our way in. Dark cherry wood lines the floor boards, with soft colors accentuating the walls. Empty picture frames hang, waiting for faces to fill the space. A wide living room sits to our left, complete with a fluffy couch, loveseat, and two chairs. Plush beige carpet cushions the floors, with smooth polished coffee tables. Posy is running through the room towards the hall. We watch her race towards another room and hear water. Madge pulls Gale ahead lightly, and we all follow quietly. Inside reveals Posy standing at a sink playing with the water. A perfect cake sits on the counter, decorated like the woods. It's even complete with Katniss flowers, primroses, and a few other familiar plants.

"Did you make this?" Gale asks, turning towards me. I shake my head, and quietly step up to observe.

"Peeta is the only one who can create beauty like this. I'm getting better, but I'm not that good…"

Madge smiles slightly, and clears her throat. "I hope you don't mind, I ordered the cake two days ago through Peeta as a secret. I figured it would be something nice for you." I think back to when Peeta asked me to bring some examples of plants. I just brought the book over to him. That's why he needed it. Prim and Rory are whispering, and speak up.

"Mom? Can we get our rooms now?" Rory asks, backing to the doorway.

"Sure. Let's figure that out now." It turns out; there are three floors of house. The second floor contains four rooms, one master, and three guests. They all are overly large in size. Posy asks to get hers painted with princesses and castles. I laugh at the question. We decide to ask Peeta to paint the walls. Rory and Vick get the other two rooms, and Hazelle gets the master. With just Madge, Gale and I, we head up to floor number three. Most of the floor is open, finished with a couch and few other relaxing items. One bedroom lies at the back of the room, and Gale decides to call it his.

"I have to get to work; I had a short break for today…" My voice breaks the silence. Madge sits on the edge of his bed with a soft smile. Gale's eyes are glimmering with that scared side, and slight serenity. "The blue irises, tomorrow morning?" I ask quietly, knowing that we are being listened to. He nods in return. "See you around Madge." I call over my shoulder heading downstairs. I walk to Rory's new room, and see Prim and him lying next to each other on the wide bed staring at the ceiling. "I'm heading to work, need anything?" Prim sits up, and shakes her head.

Her voice rings out quietly. "Tell Peeta I said hi." I give a nod in return, and head downstairs.

"Bye Hazelle!" I shut the door, and jog to the bakery. I skid through the front doors, to see Rye look up. "Ay Katpiss." He grins like a fool, and looks down.

I flick his ear as I pass, "You're such an ass Rye." He laughs loudly, and I glare at him over my shoulder.

"Hey baby." I hear someone whisper seductively in my other ear.

I turn to respond, but Peeta catches my lips before. "Give him a show." I break away to whisper, and he pins me against the wall. I moan loudly, and lick his lips.

"You guys suck!" Rye cries out, and I laugh.

"Technically, I lick." Peeta replies casually, making me go bright red.

"So you guys have been busy?" Rye shrieks, causing me to go even brighter shades of red.

"None of your business Rye." Peeta replies and we go back into the kitchen. I run into the bathroom to change into work clothes, and wash my hands. Peeta is already making up dough for nut bread. He points to a bowl. "Just finished rising, can you shape them into loaves?" I smile and start working immediately.

.0.0.0.

Prim sleeps cozily in my mom's side which I am thankful for. I pull on my leather jacket, and tie the knots of my shoes quickly. I tiptoe downstairs, grabbing a cheese bun for breakfast. I make way to the gate and slip under successfully without being caught. Jogging the slightly worn path, my feet lead me to the rock hidden behind the blackberry bushes. Blue irises surround the front, our code for this spot. Gale sits on the rock quietly, and I clear my throat.

"Morning." He stands, and I fling myself into his arms. "I missed you so much. I'm so glad you came back." I look up into his eyes. Ghosts and sorrow fill them. I curse myself for saying something so stupid. "I'm so sorry Gale."

"She was so young. She didn't deserve to be blown up. I should have died and saved her. It's my fault." Never once in my life have I heard Gale sound so broken. I grab his face roughly, forcing him to look me in the eye.

"Don't blame yourself. The Capitol clicked the button for that bomb. It was their fault. They took her life, not you." He nods, and sits on the rock.

We sit in silence for a bit, and I notice that isn't the only thing on his mind. "What's going on in your head right now?" The new look he gets scares me a lot.

"Everything is wrong. The Capitol knows about your family. He knows everything, Snow does. He paid me a visit before I left. Everything is so wrong Catnip." I look away, afraid of the next answer for my question.

"What did he say?"

"A rebellion is beginning. Since I displayed my feelings for Madge, it saved me from being blown up instead of Rue. We have to get married on the Victory Tour if I want to keep your family alive. But that isn't even the worst of it. He told me the plans for the Quell. He said that all victors are being mixed in with the regular reaping pool. It won't affect twelve though, since he already picked out the tributes personally." A tear escapes his eye.

"Who are they Gale?" I whisper.

"It's my entire fault. My rebellious acts lead to this." He whispers quietly.

"Who are they Gale?" I ask with more strength, standing up shakily.

His dark grey eyes meet mine, and he shakes his head sadly.

"Mr. Peeta Andrew Mellark and Ms. Katniss Dahlia Everdeen." My vision goes black with the world at his words.

**And there is the end of Cracking a Stone Heart. Thank you to all of my readers, especially the ones who reviewed! You guys made me so proud to be the author of this story! The sequel will hopefully be up within the next few days, and the posting schedule will lean more towards every other day for my school schedule. 39 days of school left, and then we have all summer for more fanfics! I will post one more A/N containing the news of the sequel's name, a short summary, and CSH's song playlist. (For those of you interested in what the hell I was listening to!) THANKS! Leave me your last reviews for this story!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hello all! So first off, here is the playlist for Cracking a Stone Heart. After that, the summary and title of the sequel to be released!**

_Abraham's Daughter- Arcade Fire_

_A Beautiful Mess- Jason Mraz_

_Dark Days- Punch Brothers_

_Just Breather- Pearl Jam_

_Kingdom Come- The Civil Wars_

_Stop This Train- John Mayer_

_Thunder- Boys Like Girls_

_Two is Better Than One- Boys Like Girls_

_Valentine- Kina Grannis_

_We are Young- Fun._

_This is War- 30 Seconds to Mars_

_The Kill- 30 Seconds to Mars_

_Just the Way You Are- Bruno Mars_

_My Paper Heart- The All-American Rejects_

_Stricken- Disturbed_

**That's about it for the playlist. Occasionally there would be some other songs, but you get the idea. Thanks again for your support, and here is what you have been waiting for.**

**Skipping Stones**

_**Sequel to: Cracking a Stone Heart. Gale tries to challenge the Games with a handful of berries and one innocent girl from 11. His choices lead to one blown up girl, and two close friends going into the possibly most life-changing Quell of Panem. What will happen to Katniss and Peeta as they desperately try to keep their grasp together until the end? Will the rebels come to save the day and revolt against the Capitol? How will Madge and Gale fair with their demanded new life together? Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, the separate plot is mine. Everything else belongs to Suzanne Collins, the genius of the Hunger Games Trilogy. **_


	31. IMPORTANT MESSAGE

**Hey all, **

**I've lost a ton of readers for the sequel, so I'm posting this message under Cracking to get all of your attention. Two chapters are out for the sequel, and I'm a bit slow releasing them. Remember to follow my Instagram HGtribute18 to get updates on the stories. Thanks! **

**FTW: The sequel name has been changed to Jumping over Stones, it is not Skipping Stones. THANK YOU LOVELIES. **


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